Summary: Rick decides to give Michonne to the Governor. Daryl objects to this. Merle notes that Rick won't have the stomach to do it so he acts on his own and kidnaps Michonne. Daryl goes after them. Eventually, Merle lets Michonne go when she suggests turning back. Merle continues on and lays a trap for the Governor. He tries to kill the Governor but fails, so the Governor kills him. Daryl cries when he finds Merle as a walker. At the prison, Glenn proposes to Maggie and Rick decides to put democracy back into the group.
The Good: I appreciated the focus on Merle and Michonne in this episode. There was some solid moral conflict explored in this episode and I did appreciate the overall look we got over the group's leadership. Granted, there were some major problems here (see: The Bad), but I appreciate the effort. Merle had a pretty good episode. Watching the group's friction with Merle is always a blast, and having such an unrepentant prick amongst the group feels so fresh. Furthermore, I like that Glenn's scene with Daryl nicely suggested that Merle's crimes have been too serious to be easily forgiven, and that even if Merle changes, he will still be an outcast in the group. He will always be hated and he can't simply atone for his bad behaviour in the way that Daryl did. The writers went in the direction of having a fellow outcast be the only person who was able to see Merle's true feelings. It's an age-old story and it works fine for some easy entertainment, though there were some pretty large issues with it (see: The Bad). At the very least we got some decent action sequences with walkers which remain a high point of the series. The ending action sequence was the best part of the episode. It was tense and exciting and it really felt like there was going to be major consequences for everyone involved. In the end, Merle was given a death fitting for his character and we were given a sad scene as Daryl stumbles upon his brother as a walker. Glenn proposing to Maggie is a fine side plot. Nothing too interesting, but it works for what it is. The Bad: Skipping over Rick's decision to give Michonne to the Governor was stupid and it came right out of nowhere. What's worse is that there is no way that Rick could be stupid enough to agree to this. There is no reason for him to trust the Governor, and the fact that nobody is objecting openly against Rick's idiotic decision is even more ridiculous. Honestly, the character of Rick was totally butchered in this episode. Not only does he make a stupid decision, but he then sends Daryl, Merle and Michonne to likely deaths and he doesn't lift a finger to help them. That's so out of character for the man that stormed Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie. Rick wasn't the only character who was acting inconsistently. Michonne magically became an all-seeing wise woman as she was apparently able to read Merle like a book and perfectly deduce his issues. And to add on, she also magically became one of the most talkative people in the show after so many episodes of silence. I don't even think she spoke this much to Andrea, her friend of many months. It's such a sharp change that only goes to show how poorly written this episode was. The worst character to be sabotaged was absolutely Merle himself. Merle stood out because he was a complete asshole with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He's the kind of person to loot mattresses to find dope, to torture people without blinking an eye, and to kill allies whenever it suited him. The only person who he ever cared about was Daryl. Yet somehow, Merle is portrayed in this episode as a regretful rogue who feels terribly about all the bad that he has done. Where the hell did this come from? It's at odds with everything we have learned about Merle so far, and it makes his mission to go kill the Governor make little sense. The only person Merle listened to is Daryl, and Daryl wanted Merle to redeem himself, not kill himself. It's so disappointing to see Merle get a "heroic death" following a sudden 180 on his character, and it makes it feel like the Merle in this episode is a completely different person from the Merle we have gotten to know. This show is constantly failing in the character development department. Once again, a character that finally begins to grow and develop is immediately killed off to surprise the audience. Would it hurt to have some character development for the people that aren't going to die? This show has always been pathetic with its character development, and killing off the people who get the most attention certainly doesn't help the issue. The Unknown: Will there be a big action sequence in the next episode? How is it going to go down? Will Daryl make it back to the prison? Or will he attack the Governor in a rage? Best Moment: Merle gunning down the Woodbury men before being subdued and killed. Character of the Episode: Merle. Even though he was ruined in this episode, he still had all of the best scenes. Conclusion: This episode provides some fun entertainment and there are some signature TWD action scenes. But when you look under the surface, the characters make little sense and the poor writing hurts what should have been a standout episode. Score: 56
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Summary: El removes the bit of the Mind Flayer in her leg but she finds that her powers have vanished. Hopper's group arrives and they form a plan. Joyce, Murray and Hopper go to the Russian lab to infiltrate it while Steve and Robin drive Dustin and Erica to Weathertop so that Dustin can help them navigate. The others attempt to leave to go somewhere safe but Billy destroys their car and they are trapped. The Mind Flayer shows up and gets into the mall. Some of the kids manage to escape from the Mind Flayer and Steve and Robin arrive to help drive them away. Hopper and Joyce infiltrate the Russians and they prepare to turn off the key. The terminator shows up and fights Hopper at the key. Billy finds Mike, Max and El and he captures El. The Mind Flayer comes back to kill her but Billy's memories reawaken and he sacrifices himself. Hopper kills the terminator and sacrifices himself so that Joyce can close the gate. The Mind Flayer dies. Three months later, the Byers family moves out of Hawkins with El. Mike and El confess their love for each other. Steve and Robin find a movie store to work at together. El reads Hopper's letter about the heart to heart conversation he was supposed to have before she leaves.
The Good: Despite my gripes about this season, I thought that it hit something special in the finale, particularly with the final few scenes. After 7 episodes, the show finally captured the emotions of growing up and moving on, themes that the season had tried toying with before. Everything came together with these final scenes as the show impressively conveyed a wide range of different situations where characters were forced to move on from their past lives. Some were easy and familiar like Steve and Robin locating a new store to work at. Some were filled with optimism like Erica getting Will's D&D set. Others were extremely tough and emotional like El missing Hopper and Max struggling to accept Billy's death. And some were bittersweet like the Byers family having to abandon their old lives to discover a new place in the world. The entire sequence was heartfelt, and adding Hopper's voiceover did a brilliant job of adding to the intense emotion that was conveyed here. I can say with certainty that this sequence was the best that "Stranger Things" has ever been and it could easily work as a series finale because of the sense of finality that it had. The reunion at Starcourt was a lot of fun and it made sense for everybody to finally end up together in the season finale. The episode had a sense of unity between all of the storylines and I enjoyed how all of the various storylines interacted with the others. This episode felt like more of a complete story than every other episode before it. I also enjoyed the following scenes of the kids hiding from the Mind Flayer. The scenes were quite tense and I thought they were well executed for the most part. Then in the other half of the episode, we had a totally different story as Murray, Hopper and Joyce sneakily infiltrated the Russian fortress. The contrast worked and it felt like I was watching 2 unique climaxes which gave the episode a fresh feeling. The ending ended up being really poignant with the dual sacrifices coming from both stories. Billy's death was sad and it felt like a fitting, heroic way for Billy to go out. Hopper's death was much sadder and it only added to the gutpunch of Billy's death by having Hopper die just a few moments after Billy. Both deaths coupled with each other made the final victory over the Mind Flayer feel much more triumphant and hard-earned. The Suzie moment was very unexpected and it ended up being a surprisingly sweet comedy moment. Having Dustin and Suzie sing The Neverending Story was wonderful, and it worked as an emotional moment and also a comedic moment as the show kept showing everyone's confused faces as they listened in to the song. There were a few fun moments scattered throughout the episode. I loved The Cutting Edge show as it caught us up on what happened after the timeskip in a unique and thoroughly entertaining way. I also really liked the scene between Hopper and Joyce where they set themselves up a date, providing some nice pay-off for their season-long story. The Bad: I had some logistical problems with this as usual. The Mind Flayer seems much more interested in roaring and seeming threatening instead of actually killing El and the kids. This took away my investment because I was confident that the Mind Flayer will be defeated and having it be an incapable villain only amplified that feeling. Furthermore, I found it hard to believe that nobody saw or heard the Mind Flayer causing chaos all throughout the city. And also, the sheer amount of last minute saves made me confident that everyone would always be saved which didn't allow me to get as invested in every scene as I could have been. I was disappointed that the immediate fallout of the Mind Flayer was just glossed over. It would have been nice to see how everyone explained what happened to the public. Additionally, I was annoyed that we never got to see what happened to all of the other possessed people. Did they die? Were there clones that existed like we were shown in "The Mall Rats" or was that just something else? To not get these questions answered was pretty disappointing. How did the army get into the base? Did they all fit in that elevator? It's way too easy to get into the Russian fortress. It's the 1980s and the Star Wars prequels don't exist yet. So why is the first Star Wars movie called "A New Hope"? That name shouldn't exist yet. It's a small gripe, I know, but for a show that's usually so good with its 80s references, this is unusually sloppy. The Unknown: Why have El's powers vanished? Will they come back? What happened to all of the possessed people? Are they dead? Interesting mid-credits scene. Is Hopper still alive and is he the prisoner? Will the Russians play a role in season 4? Where does the series go now? This episode felt like a series finale in a lot of ways. Is there more story to be told? How can the show continue the story for another season? Best Moment: The final sequence was incredibly emotional. It's so impressive how the show nailed the feelings of growing up. There were so many varying examples of this, and that means that there is at least one moment in this sequence that any viewer can relate to and understand. Character of the Episode: Hopper. Conclusion: This was an exciting episode and it served as a fun conclusion to the season. But that phenomenal ending sequence turned this into the best "Stranger Things" episode yet and it worked as a tremendous closing scene. I do wonder where the show can go after this. As a whole, this season was disappointing. The characters were very different from prior seasons and a lot of the season's writing was uninspired, repetitive and boring. Still, the season was a fun watch overall like the previous two. And much like the previous two, I'll conclude by saying that I had fun watching this, but I don't see myself ever being motivated to watch this season again. Score: 68 Summary: Rachel's sister Jill arrives at Rachel's apartment because her dad cut her off. Rachel tries to help her but is shaken when Phoebe reports that Jill and Ross seem to have a spark. Joey starts giving away free food, drawing Gunther's ire. Monica is sick but refuses to acknowledge it.
The Good: Jill is played well and her role in the story is fun. I especially liked Rachel's reactions to a potential Jill/Ross relationship, and the idea that her interference is what caused the relationship is pretty clever. Ross, Phoebe, Chandler and Monica have the odd funny line throughout the episode. Though his story is a little flat, Joey is consistently funny throughout. The Bad: This episode really feels like a part 1. The main story moves glacially slow and the two side stories don't really have much to them. The show continues to be very unoriginal with its storytelling. The Monica and Chandler plot is awful and Monica somehow gets more and more cartoonish by the episode. Best Moment: I'll go with the confused looks everyone gives when they hear a knock on the door, realizing that everyone is already there. Character of the Episode: Rachel. Conclusion: This episode was fine for a few laughs, though the side stories were forgettable. It's also hurt by being a part 1 of a two-part story. Score: 51 Summary: June and Lawrence put their plan into motion, but things go awry when a martha arrives in the daylight and is reported to have been seen. Lawrence wants to back out but June forces him to continue. Lawrence decides to stay in Gilead while June and the others escort the kids to the airport. A guardian patrol is barring the way so the handmaids and marthas cause a distraction, allowing the kids and the remaining marthas to get on the plane and escape. June and Janine are shot and badly wounded, but they survive. The plane lands safely in Canada. In Canada, Fred pettily throws Serena under the bus by suggesting that she was complicit in Nick raping June, getting Serena arrested.
The Good: Sometimes simple and predictable storytelling is absolutely the right way to handle things. What I expected and wanted from this episode was a tense and dramatic episode centering only around June actually enacting the plan of getting the 52 kids out of Gilead. And that is exactly what we got. This show has consistently enjoyed making storylines way more complex than they need to be, but episodes like this one prove that complexity doesn't necessarily make an episode better. A simple episode that is executed well can easily be better than a sloppily written episode that has more depth to it. The escape of the children from Gilead is a rare story that was built up across several episodes, and that played a big part in making the moment as successful as it was. The process of the kids escaping was really effective and it worked as a joyful moment that provided some much-needed hope into the world of Gilead. I thought that the handmaids and marthas attacking the one guardian patrol was a very strong scene and it was the most heroic that the victims of Gilead have ever been. This was a lovely moment of hope and strength that worked as a climax for the season. The scenes at the airport in Canada were even better. The arrival of the children and marthas was a rare victory over Gilead for the rebels. The moment hits hard and is surprisingly emotional as Rita meets with Emily and Luke. Furthermore, this scene marks the first time a rebellious move has actually had a significant impact in saving lives and fighting back against Gilead, finally giving us some pay-off for the show's endless promises of rebellion. June's determination to ensure that the kids get out was a very good story to follow. Her desperation when Maggie nearly ruins her plans is easy to understand and I really liked her choice to draw a gun on Maggie, with her willing to kill Maggie before letting Kiki go back. The prior scene where June got to empathize a little bit with Kiki was also very strong and it did a nice job of bringing June's emotional state to the forefront of her decision to draw a gun on Maggie. The scenes with Lawrence were strong, as always. He came off as pretty heroic in his final scene as he says goodbye to June, and I did enjoy June mouthing off to him earlier in the episode as she attempted to force Lawrence to stick to the plan. I liked the scenes with the Waterfords in Canada. Fred would be petty enough to throw Serena under the bus for betraying him, and it was very satisfying to see the walls close in on Serena, providing us with some sweet catharsis as Serena's plan falls apart right in front of her. The Bad: I get that the show was trying to say that this episode was the point where June went from a victim to a major rebellious leader. The existence of that opening scene suggests as much. But the story doesn't work at all for me because June hasn't really been a victim for so long. I can't recall the last time that June has been abused without her acting out in some way, so it's hard to relate with June as a victim in this season. I thought the scene of June pointing the gun at Kiki was very forced and it was difficult to buy into why June would do this. I don't buy into June being so desperate that she points a gun at Kiki. The scene simply existed because it was dramatic, not because it was logical. I found it odd that Serena was convicted at the word of a war criminal. Surely they would need some actual proof of her involvement. Also consensual sex isn't rape, Tuello claiming that it is was very stupid. The Unknown: What was Janine's gift that she gave to June? Will Janine and June be fine after getting shot? What will happen to them when Gilead discovers what they did? What will Lydia's reaction be? How will Gilead react to the child smuggling? Will they demand returns from Canada? Will this lead to war? Will Lawrence be punished for his actions? Or will they remain a secret? What consequences will Serena face? Best Moment: The airport scenes. Character of the Episode: June. Conclusion: This was a very good finale that had some emotional moments. This season was a major disappointment. It started well enough but then the middle of the season put the show in a slump as the writers stalled the story, wrote sloppy side-plots, and completely failed to produce emotional moments. There were some good episodes towards the end, but the show mostly didn't recover and I still ended the season feeling underwhelmed. Funnily enough, I thought that this could have been a really strong season if it was written better, but it never lived up to its full potential. This show continues to get worse with every season and it isn't showing any signs of learning from past mistakes, so I'm not feeling very hopeful about season 4's quality. I'm unsure if I will be reviewing that season next year due to my declining interest in the show. Score: 67 Summary: The kids remain at the house where they fight the Mind Flayer. El is injured badly but they escape. As El recovers at a store, Dustin calls Mike on the walkie. Dustin and Erica get Steve and Robin out but they are trapped in the mall with the Russians closing in. Steve confesses his love for Robin but Robin reveals that she is lesbian. The Russians find their location and the team is trapped, but the other kids return and El kills the Russians. El then collapses in pain from her wound which has started to convulse. Hopper and Joyce go searching through the Independence Day festival to find the kids. They are unsuccessful and Kline notices them. The terminator arrives and kills Alexei. Hopper, Joyce and Murray eventually escape and head to the mall.
The Good: Steve and Robin were once again this episode's saving grace. Their scenes were extremely well done. At first, it seemed like their interactions existed solely for comedy as they were high as a kite and were just saying a bunch of stupid, funny stuff. But then their interactions took a surprisingly poignant turn with Steve confessing his feelings for Robin and Robin then having the tough task of refusing him. The moment was impressively emotional and I felt really bad for Steve who had to suffer losing the girl he loves yet again. But what was most striking to me was how quickly Steve and Robin were able to move on and keep their friendship intact, showing their maturity and demonstrating the closeness of their bond which has developed in such a short amount of time. It was a beautiful scene and it paid off of their season-long story in a beautiful way. The Hopper/Joyce story had a few good moments. The action sequence at the fair was pretty creative and it had its fair share of tense moments. I got a laugh out of Murray doing his thing where he predicts people's lives with striking accuracy once again. It was stupid (see: The Bad), yet it was still funny. The Bad: "Stranger Things" still hasn't figured out how to handle a season's climax. This show has been consistently good at heating up storylines with intriguing mystery and some surprising twists, but when it comes to providing an action-packed climax, the show has been consistently disappointing. That trend continues here as this episode completely failed in all of its big action scenes, and without the allure of mystery keeping me engaged, that gave this episode very little content that actually interested me. The Mind Flayer action sequence for example was absolutely atrocious. I never felt any tension because I knew that everyone would escape okay (this clearly wasn't the big climactic confrontation), and as a result, I found myself screaming in frustration at all of the absurd, convenient moments during this action sequence. For one, it makes no sense that everyone would not immediate;y leave the house when they learned that the Mind Flayer knew their location. Instead they perplexingly barred the doors and chose to make a final stand, which ended in them all running away anyways. Why didn't they just run away before? Why didn't anybody bring this up as an idea? I have no clue. Worse yet is the mechanics of the battle itself. The Mind Flayer doesn't immediately go for the kill for whatever reason and everything is set up purely to create the most drama, rather than making any sense. The Mind Flayer can send in multiple tendrils, yet it only starts with one. Then, it doesn't attack El right away, which makes little sense considering that El is its prime target. Another stupidity is that El takes forever to start using her powers. It's like she decided to give everyone else a chance to fight beforehand which is very stupid. And why didn't the Mind Flayer just send in a third tendril to kill El? After all she only has two hands to fight with. Then we have the Mind Flayer pointlessly just poking its head in and roaring until El could explode it, which is a perfect case of the villain becoming suddenly incapable so that the heroes could escape. Also, El was wounded pretty deeply, I find it highly unlikely that she didn't bleed out before they group arrived at the store. Murray's accurate estimation on Joyce and Hopper's relationship still feels too cartoony. It's also not as funny as the first time it happened in the last season. Thankfully, his intervention did stop the endless bickering between Joyce and Hopper which had gotten old 2 or 3 episodes ago. The scenes at the fair had their dumb moments. Joyce going back to punch Kline was a dumb action hero trope. Alexei's death didn't really work for me. His character hadn't been developed enough to make losing him feel sad. Furthermore, I can't believe that he died without anybody in the fair noticing. News flash, even if a gun has a silencer on it, you can still hear the gunshot if your close to it! Furthermore, did nobody stumble upon the dead body which was just around the corner from everything? That should be enough to send everybody into a huge panic. The Unknown: What is happening to El's leg? Will she lose her leg in the next episode? Or is the Mind Flayer starting to take over her mind? The story seems to be setting up for a big final confrontation at Starcourt Mall with all the major players heading there. What is going to happen? Will the gate be closed? Will the Mind Flayer attack the Russians too? What happens to Kline in the next episode? What is his character's resolution? If the Mind Flayer is killed, will all of the Flayed be returned to their normal lives? Or do they die too? Best Moment: Steve's confession to Robin. Character of the Episode: I gave it to Steve last episode, so I'll give it to Robin this time. Conclusion: "Stranger Things" still hasn't quite figured out how to do big climaxes and it shows with this episode. Outside of the one brilliant Steve and Robin scene, this was a major disappointment and it feels like this season is going to end on a real low point. Score: 47 Summary: The Russians discover Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica's presence in the secret fortress. Steve and Robin are captured and interrogated. Dustin and Erica escape but they go back and save the other two. However, Steve and Robin have already revealed everything they know to the Russians after extensive torture. Nancy and Jonathan barely escape from the monster with El's help. El attempts to locate Billy to figure out where the Mind Flayer would be located. She finds Billy and discovers that the location is Brimborn Steelworks. However, the Mind Flayer is able to locate El as a result and the Flayed all go to the Steelworks to prepare for an attack. Alexei reveals that the Russians are trying to access the Upside Down, terrifying Joyce and Hopper.
The Good: I liked parts of this episode but not the episode as a whole. I thought there were a few excellent scenes but the stories overall didn't live up to my expectations. The best parts of the episode were with Steve and Robin as they got tortured by the Russians. The Russians were intimidating and the two of them were in a genuinely dangerous situation with no way out. It was tense seeing Steve get beaten as the Russians try to force information out of him, and it was emotional seeing Robin and Steve open up to each other while in the face of certain death. The part where they both reflected on their high school life in contrast to the life they wanted was genuinely sweet. They developed a nice bond over the course of this season. I also enjoyed the cinematic way that we were shown Billy's backstory. I loved the idea of El trying to read his mind to find the Mind Flayer's location, and I thought the execution of the scene was wonderful. I was also a big fan of the reveal that the Mind Flayer can now track El as a result of her approaching Billy. It's fitting that her bold move would have some major consequences, and now the stakes have been raised for the final two episodes of the season. The start of the episode with the monster attacking Jonathan and Nancy was a really strong start. The scene was tense and I was on the edge of my seat because this moment felt like a point where the story could take an unexpected turn and have Jonathan or Nancy or even both of them get captured. But unfortunately the show took the safe route. The Bad: This episode ended up being one of the show's most uninspired efforts. The story is predictable and boring, and it's filled to the brim with tropes and clichés that drag down the plot completely. As a result, this becomes a wholly unsatisfying hour of television and it doesn't do a great job of getting me hyped up for the season's endgame. The characters remain a weak part of this season. Each character gets maybe one episode to be relevant and to do something important, but outside of that everyone is a boring caricature of themselves. This appears to have happened because the cast has expanded far too much with too many characters being given nothing to do. Joyce and Hopper have been part of a rather dull side story for a long time now and they still haven't contributed much of note to the story. Their characters haven't been treated well either as Joyce doesn't seem to care for her kids at all and Hopper has become a complete joke with all of his worst traits played up for comedy. It's funny for sure, but his character's destruction has disconnected me from his story. The kids are just as bad. I can't recall Lucas contributing a single thing to the story this season. Dustin has been relegated to a side character when he is given his own storyline as the emphasis is always on Steve and Robin. Erica is just awful and remains that way in this episode. Then we have Mike, El and Max heavily involved in this cheesy romance story which I'm somehow managing to get more and more annoyed by in every episode. The problem I have with this is that nobody is likable. Max is the annoying friend, Mike is so overprotective and obsessive that it's impossible to sympathize with him, El continually shifts from sensible to foolish with every scene, and due to this story, Will is just forgotten all together. This season's poor treatment of its characters has been present from episode 1, and it still hasn't been addressed. A few good scenes and some entertaining plot movement does not make up for the sabotage of the show's characters. This episode is also far too convenient with stupid ways to advance the plot. Hopper giving Alexei the keys is stupid enough and I can't understand why he would take such a risk. What's worse is that his plan actually works as Alexei stops driving and submits in what is one of the show's cheesiest moments ever. Next, we have Nancy and Jonathan just standing there as the monster forms before they somehow manage to survive long enough until El finds them to save them. If the show had any sense of consequence, both of them should have been killed in seconds because they couldn't get away, and moments like the monster taking its sweet time to kill Nancy really hurt the show's credibility. Then we get the absurdly terrible Russian security. According to Alexei, the Russians have their most elite security systems in place, yet they can be breached by 4 dumb kids. That is completely implausible. Furthermore, Dustin and Erica somehow remain hidden after escaping, despite the Russians actively looking for them, and then they somehow stage a rescue mission to get Steve and Robin out of confinement. These scenes were all awful, and it made the Russians look like cartoon villains instead of a competent government organization. Was Billy's backstory really necessary for the show? Its timing was very odd as the character of Billy hadn't been focused on for a long time. Furthermore, Kline is a terrible character. He is cartoonish in the worst ways and the scene where he is threatened by the Terminator was bad. The Unknown: What is the Mind Flayer going to do now? Will it attack the city or just go for El? How are the kids going to fight this? What role will Hopper and Joyce play in the story? Did Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica seriously just escape that easily? How will the Russians respond to this? Best Moment: Steve and Robin opening up while facing certain death was excellent. Character of the Episode: Steve. Conclusion: This had a few strong moments, but overall this episode was very badly done and continued the disappointing run of this season. Score: 45 Summary: Joyce and Hopper find a secret underground Russian base that they investigate. The man whoa attacked Hopper at Hawkins lab returns to kill them. Joyce and Hopper escape with a hostage, Alexei. Hopper takes them to Murray's place. Dustin, Steve, Robin and Erica find themselves in a secret Russian facility. They quietly sneak around and discover a massive machine. Nancy tells Jonathan about Mrs. Driscoll and she speaks with the kids about it. They all figure out that the Mind Flayer has possessed tons of people and is doing it at a specific location. Nancy plans to follow Mrs. Driscoll back to this location so they all go to the hospital. At the hospital, Jonathan and Nancy find that Mrs. Driscoll is gone an dBruce and Tom are waiting for them. They fight and kill Tom and Bruce who melt into goo and transform into a monster.
The Good: The best thing about this episode is that it was very entertaining. There is loads of action, the comedy is fantastic, and the pacing is rapid. A lot happens here, and it is fun to watch. Joyce and Hopper's story starts with a bang with an exciting action sequence that sets up the story for the rest of the episode. They go on an episode-long journey with new character Alexei, who is a fun addition with entertaining mannerisms, but the episode is still pretty serious as they are chased by a Terminator-like villain who is right behind them. The story is fun and there are several funny moments like the commandeering of the convertible car, Joyce accidentally throwing the gun to the bad guy, and Hopper screaming at Joyce to drive over and over again. The Mrs. Driscoll plot is really strong as well. Like the Hopper/Joyce story, this is filled with comedy and some pretty important plot details which are given out early in the episode. The story reaches its climax with a really fun action/horror sequence as Nancy and Jonathan battle Tom and Bruce, though they do so differently than they may have expected. This leads into a shocking final scene as a monster is born out of Tom and Bruce's remains, leaving us on a pretty good cliffhanger. We also get a nice moment of Jonathan and Nancy making up, which was a solid scene that nicely addressed the tension between them. The Dustin/Steve story is also really fun. There are a number of fun setpieces, exciting moments, and big reveals. It's good for all of the same reasons that the other 2 stories are good. As a whole, all three storylines are moving the story forwards in the same way and at the same pace. As a side note, I really liked the transition from Hopper, Joyce and Alexei in the woods to El watching them. This show has gotten a little more creative with its cinematography. The Bad: The biggest issue with this episode is how little character work there is. The episode is far too busy with too many plot movements, and as a result there are fewer character beats infused into the action than usual. I enjoy some action and plot development as much as anyone else, but I certainly prefer there to be a character story told throughout. The result of a lack of character means that this episode doesn't have much under the surface of the suspense. The mystery of early in the season is nearly gone, so all the tension comes from the action setpieces which is too simple of a story to carry an episode. The characters are given very basic things to do and there isn't very much conflict for any of them to deal with throughout the episode. I had a few problems with this. Robin seems to have somehow picked up on the Russian language immediately which is too quick for my liking. I still don't understand why the elevator decided to go down at the beginning of the episode, and it seems that there is no explanation. That's pretty stupid. Lastly, the terminator villain is a little too ridiculous for me. The Unknown: What does Alexei know? Will he tell Hopper and Joyce anything? What is with that goo at the end? Are the possessed people actually just goo and not the actual people? Have they somehow been replaced by monsters? How does this work? What is that monster at the end? How did it form like that? How many of these monsters are there? What is going to happen to Nancy and Jonathan? Best Moment: Nancy and Jonathan getting back together was the only scene of the episode thta actually made me feel something. Character of the Episode: Hopper. Conclusion: This was entertaining, but it was lacking in character. I had fun watching this episode, but there is nothing more than ordinary TV drama here. Score: 58 Summary: Billy accepts June's plan and June is ecstatic. News arrives of the Waterfords arrest and that Winslow has gone missing. Mrs. Winslow comes by and Eleanor nearly reveals the plan to smuggle out children. June shouts at her upsetting her. Eleanor commits suicide and June sees her slowly dying, but she lets her die. Lawrence is distraught during the funeral but seems to suspect something about June. Serena's betrayal is confirmed and Fred is angry at her. Serena is allowed some time with Nichole but only after Moira shouts at her. Luke goes to speak with Fred who refuses to give any valuable information. Fred infuriates Luke who strikes him.
The Good: Elisabeth Moss is fantastic as per usual. I love how she conveyed June's excitement and happiness early in the episode. She has actual power now, 52 kids are going to be saved from Gilead and the Waterfords are facing some sweet comeuppance back in Canada. Everything is going perfectly from June, and Elisabeth Moss is able to convey a light in June's eyes that wasn't there in any prior episode. She is ecstatic about everything that has happened and for the first time in a long time, she is actually looking forward to what is coming up. This makes Eleanor nearly revealing the secret plan to Mrs. Winslow such a scary moment. In this one scene, June is faced to look at the reality of her actually falling back down to just another handmaid. After doing all of the hard work to get to the top, it's unbearable for her so she lashes out at Eleanor to ensure that the plan goes along perfectly. But she goes the extra mile. When she is faced with an opportunity to rid herself of any risk by letting Eleanor die, she takes it, and in one of the show's darkest scenes, June simply lets Eleanor pass away quietly. The moment is shot perfectly and it gives me chills, and it reminds me a lot of the scene in "Breaking Bad" where Walt lets Jane die when he has a chance to save her. Of course this moment isn't executed quite as well (see: The Bad), but it still hits the mark. Lawrence's reaction to Eleanor's death is pretty heartbreaking. He has been one of the best parts of the season, and his motives are pretty clearly defined. He loves his wife more than anything else, so it really destroys him to lose her. But Lawrence isn't stupid, and June seems oddly unperturbed by Eleanor's death to him. It seems like June and Lawrence are on-course for a major confrontation in the season finale. The scenes in Canada are good for the most part. It's satisfying to see Moira trash Serena, just as it's satisfying to see Luke get a good, clean hit on Fred. It's refreshing to see the Waterfords in a powerless position and it lets their real character show, not the fake facade that they have been putting on for way too many scenes in this season. The Bad: There's something lacking with Eleanor's death. In "Breaking Bad", Jane's death was the climax of a despairing episode that built slowly and intricately to Walt's fateful decision. Eleanor's death doesn't get the same treatment and there are only a couple of moments before it that allow us to buy into June's decision. The death isn't a major climax like Jane's was, it's just another underwhelming big moment in a season that has been filled with underwhelming big moments that haven't gotten the appropriate amount of set-up to make them impactful. June continues to get away with anything and everything and it is becoming more frustrating with every episode. In the last two episodes, June has been responsible for the deaths of two important people, yet she has currently faced no consequences for it. Somehow it's easier to get away with murder in Gilead than it is in the real world. It's frustrating that Winslow's disappearance has been attributed to the Americans. Were their no cameras to track where he went? Did nobody notice him go into Jezebel's and never come out? Were there really no pieces of evidence left behind to track where he had went? It's absurdly easy. I'll make a comparison with "Breaking Bad" again to demonstrate how this story is really lacking. "Grilled" was a hugely eventful episode in season 2 of "Breaking Bad" that led to the death of a major character. The consequences of his death were explored for 3 full episodes after his death, and the entire following episode was spent covering up his murder. The story was fleshed out and satisfying because of the time dedicated to it. Winslow's death is cheap and underwhelming because of how quickly it got brushed aside without any consequences. I think that June letting Eleanor die was a poor direction to take June's character. We have already explored the darkness inside June with the Ofmatthew story earlier this season. Do we really need to see more of it? This show is very low on characters I genuinely empathize with and care for, so it's dangerous to put June on such a dark path, especially when her actions have started to become more and more frustrating for me. Once I stop caring about June as a person, I will have lost most of my interest in the show. The show needs to be very careful with where it goes next. Unfortunately, the messy writing of this season hasn't got my hopes up at all. I still find myself disconnected with Serena's storyline. Not letting us know why Serena set Fred up is a huge mistake. Since we don't know what Serena sacrificed Fred for, we don't understand the significance of her actions. Furthermore, Serena seemed to genuinely care about Fred in their reunion scene which contradicts the idea that she still hates him. I'm left confused with Serena's motives, and that makes her story arc wholly uninteresting. The Unknown: Will June's children plan work out? Will they be saved? Will something go wrong? Will Lawrence escape? Is June going with him? What will happen to both of them? Does Lawrence suspect that June let Eleanor die? How did he figure it out? What will he do about it? What are the effects of Eleanor's death? Will that mean that June has to be shipped off to a new household since the Lawrence household no longer has a wife? What was Serena's deal with Tuello? What is she getting in return? Why are the Waterfords imprisoned in such cozy holding cells? Will Fred eventually break? What do the Canadians want to do with him? Will Gilead make an attempt to get the Waterfords back? Best Moment: June letting Eleanor die. Character of the Episode: June. Conclusion: This episode had some impressively good storytelling surrounding June, but the writing problems, fractured storytelling, and lack of consequences all but nullify the impact of the episode. There is a great story underneath all of the poor writing this season but it hasn't overcome enough to create something worthwhile. Score: 57 Summary: Hopper and Joyce track the mystery assailant back to Kline and they confront him about it. Hopper kidnaps him and gets him to reveal that the culprits were the owners of Starcourt mall who are buying out various properties. Hopper and Joyce go to investigate but Kline warns the owners. The kids get back together when Will informs them that the Mind Flayer is back. Max and El suspect that Billy is possessed so they lure him into a sauna to test it. They confirm that Billy is possessed but Billy nearly kills El. Eventually Billy runs back to Heather and many other possessed townsfolk. Jonathan and Nancy are fired and they fight. Nancy goes to investigate more on Mrs. Driscoll. Robin, Steve and Dustin send Erica to infiltrate the room they found. She does so and lets them in. They discover that the room is an elevator and accidentally trigger it.
The Good: This episode was pretty explosive and I enjoyed it. The climax of the episode was brilliant and it provided an effective action sequence for early in the season's story. I thought that the plan to get Billy into the sauna made sense, and I enjoyed the drama once he was in there. Billy's begging was fascinating and created tension in an organic way. I was never sure if it was Billy actually talking or if it was just the Mind Flayer possessing him. The fight between Billy and El ended up being really intense, and it nicely demonstrated the overwhelming power of the Mind Flayer, setting up the story with a sense of impending doom as we learn that the Mind Flayer is building an army of superhumans like Billy. Nancy and Jonathan's story finally went somewhere I liked. Having them both get fired was a nice way to force change for the characters. It makes sense that their secret investigations would go unpunished when they were in high school (they are just kids), but in the adult world they are severely penalized for acting on their own without any thought. Nancy's follow-up story is great as her fight with Jonathan forces her to really look at herself as a person to get past this rough patch in her life. I was impressed with how the show managed to portray Nancy in a really relatable light, accurately conveying the emotions that a girl in her position would be feeling. Having the kids back together was fun, and their story in this episode was much better than the split stories of previous episodes. They have great chemistry together, but when they are on their own, the spark is missing. I especially liked how the tensions between characters continued on in their interactions despite them working together. The scenes between El and Mike, and Will and Lucas in particular were quite good. I like that Kline returned as a much more significant character than he initially seemed. He was never portrayed as a likable guy, so it was smart to have him return as a weak villain. I enjoyed Hopper's fight with him, and I really liked that Hopper took Kline with him to get information instead of just leaving him. The Bad: But then Hopper inexplicably leaves Kline in his own house so that he can contact his men. It's such a dumb move from Hopper, made worse by the fact that he was smart enough to take Kline with him earlier in the episode but not at the end. I'm not enjoying Erica at all. Robin toed the line for being an obnoxious character due to the fact that she frequently had the answer for just about everything. However, her great chemistry with Steve and Dustin made her an enjoyable character who didn't annoy me at all. With Erica, the writers send her way over the line as she annoys me in just about every scene she is in. Her personality is extremely hard to buy into for a child, and the fact that this little kid has all of the answers is much more annoying than with Robin. I don't like her as a new character to focus on, and I hope she goes back into the background soon. This show still doesn't quite engage me like other shows. It's fun to watch in the moment, but I'm never left spending much time reflecting on the episodes or desiring to watch them again. The show is only able to really hit "good" in terms of quality, and it never seems to transcend that. I think it has something to do with the show's format and its simplistic nature of storytelling. There's nothing wrong with simple storytelling, but this show just seems to do it in a very bland way. The Unknown: Is the Mind Flayer really just a remnant from season 2 like Will said? Or is its emergence connected to the Russians? Who are the Starcourt owners? What are they buying? Why is it so secretive? Are they the Russians? Why is Kline okay with what they are doing? What are they hiding that Kline had to warn them about? Where does the elevator lead? Why was Mrs. Driscoll getting the same body texture as Billy? Is the Mind Flayer also connected to the rats? Why was she freaking out like Billy? Is it a case where every possessed human gets a power-up at the same time, not just one? Was Billy actually indifferent to what the Mind Flayer was doing or is he actively working for it? Billy's scenes in "The Mall Rats" are purposely left vague for us to speculate about this. Best Moment: Nancy speaking with her mom and finding her strength again was a nice moment. Character of the Episode: Nancy. Conclusion: This was a good episode, giving Nancy some much-needed character development and providing an exciting climax. Score: 63 Summary: Hopper is mad at Joyce for standing him up. Joyce eventually convinces him to check out Hawkins Lab. They are attacked by a mystery assailant who knocks Hopper out and leaves. Dustin, Steve and Robin search for evil Russians. Robin eventually cracks the code and the trio watch a group of Russians accept a shipment. They are almost caught but they escape. El sees Billy while playing a game with Max and realizes that he is doing something questionable. They track down that Heather is missing and pay her a visit but everything is strangely fine. After they leave, Billy and Heather knock out Heather's parents. Will and Mike get in a fight when Mike is way more interested in girls that his friendship with Will. Will leaves and destroys Castle Byers in a fit of rage. He senses the return of the Mind Flayer. Nancy and Jonathan return to Mrs. Driscoll where they find her consuming the fertilizer.
The Good: This episode benefited from terrific structuring. It's impressive how every single storyline in this episode started off as dumb fun before building up to a super creepy sequence which culminates in a major reveal that nicely establishes the season's story. The perfect way that every story flowed, and the way that the writers got all the stories to fit into one another was downright impressive and it made for what is easily the season's best episode so far. El and Max's story is pretty good. I love the way that El accidentally stumbles on Billy's sinister actions. Of course the two teenage girls would abuse El's powers just for fun, and I love how the fun and games quickly turned into something sinister. There were a couple of excellent sequences here. El's bathtub scenes are always really well shot to convey creepiness and fear of the unknown. The scene with Billy and Heather at Heather's house worked really well too simply because of how odd and unexpected it was. It had its flaws for sure (see: The Bad), but I think that it worked pretty well. Robin, Steve and Dustin are simply excellent and their chemistry is fantastic. I had tons of fun with their storyline and the humour was simply great. Steve and Dustin's awful attempt at following the "evil Russian guy" was hilarious, and the payoff gag of him being a dancing teacher was awesome. Additionally, we have been treated to the wonderful arc of Steve failing to adjust to real life after leaving high school. Steve has consistently been given more depth than half of the cast. The Mike vs Will story is heartbreaking and I think it works really well. What makes it so good is that both characters have understandably gone in different directions with their lives and those differences have started to cost them their friendship. Will is sad because Mike no longer has any time for him and is so fixated on girls, while Mike is upset that Will doesn't understand how much he does care about El and how her dumping him has affected him. I've felt that this season hasn't done a very good job of examining the pains of growing up until now with this storyline. It's hard not to feel for Will who has to go through the tough act of leaving his childhood behind. Noah Schnapp puts in a fantastic performance (he remains my favourite kid actor on the show by far), and the scene where he destroys Castle Byers is particularly poignant. Joyce and Hopper's infiltration of Hawkins lab is fine television overall, but what really stands out is the reveal that Joyce is planning to leave Hawkins as a desperate bid to escape the horrors of her past. This is such a real emotion and it's easy to sympathize with Joyce. Additionally, Hopper finally comes off as a good guy in this season when he talks to Joyce about her decision with some kindness and caring. This is the guy I liked in seasons 1 and 2, not the stupid over-protective dad role that the show has thrust David Harbour into. The Bad: The mystery this season just isn't as engaging as it was before. I guess it's because we already know so much, so the thrill that was there in season 1 doesn't have a chance to return in this season. It becomes clear that the Mind Flayer is behind everything so his return isn't as big of a moment as the show thinks. It's also the most predictable direction to take the show, so I really hope there are some twists to this. Some of the main stories are hard to invest in. Hopper and Joyce's argument is really dumb and I was annoyed by Joyce's refusal to acknowledge how she left Hopper. Not having her even mention it at all was way too blunt and it made her seem like a total jerk. Their story was probably the least engaging to watch overall. Nancy and Jonathan are still horribly dull as characters. The Hawkins Post guys are somehow even worse as they are one-note "bad guys" who do the same shtick in every episode. Unfortunately they aren't funny so the gag has already run its course and has started to annoy me more than anything else. I wish the Mike vs Will story had gotten more focus in the prior episodes. The big moment of their fight is excellent, but I feel like it could have been so much more had it the fight been the boiling point of a conflict which had been given time to actually grow in the first two episodes. The writers also heavily botched the characters of Mike and Lucas this season as they come off as far too unlikable, and it's hard to sympathize with their cause instead of Will's. The Unknown: What is the ice for? The Mind Flayer? How was Heather taken down from the bath tub? Was that just a cool effect? Did Mrs. Driscoll get infected by the remains of the rat? Why is she eating fertilizer now? What are the Russians smuggling into the mall? Who attacked Hopper? Was it a Russian? Are Billy and Heather both possessed by the Mind Flayer? It seems like he is building an army of possessed people this time around. Best Moment: Will destroying Castle Byers was such a heartbreaking moment. It's a wonderful moment showing how life forces change regardless of who you are and how tough it can be to accept that people will go their different ways and that you need to move on. Character of the Episode: Will. Conclusion: This was a much stronger episode with some emotional moments and phenomenal structure and pacing. I still had my usual laundry list of gripes, but this was a fun episode. Score: 65 Summary: Mike tells El he can't see her today and makes an excuse but El can tell that he is lying. Mike goes to Lucas for help while El goes to Max for help. They all end up sending the day at the mall but at the end of the day they encounter each other. El dumps Mike for lying too much. Dustin goes to Steve to help decipher the transmission he picked up. Robin helps them and they realize that it's a code. Steve deduces that the transmission actually came from the mall. Hopper sets up a date with Joyce but Joyce doesn't show up because she has gone to Mr. Clarke for information about the magnets that keep falling. Billy returns but he isn't himself. He kidnaps a fellow lifeguard and takes her to the same monster that attacked him. Nancy and Jonathan investigate the mysterious rats.
The Good: The comedy was much better in this episode and I laughed a few times. The same goes for the character work that was done, and even the development of the plot. This episode improved everything that made me dislike the season premier so much and it served as a much better way to get me into this season. The El/Mike/Hopper story remains really stupid (see: The Bad), but it's certainly fun to watch in this episode. The awkward phone call between El and Mike was hilarious, and the reveal that Mrs. Wheeler was listening in the entire time did make me laugh. Mike's lies were quite terrible, and it makes sense that El would figure out that something is up. The branching storylines with the guys and girls were pretty good. I thought that the characters were all defined much better in this episode, and each of them served a prominent role in showing how everyone grew up and what kind of people they became. Plus, the mall sequences were very well shot and I liked the idea of ending the episode at the climactic point of El dumping Mike. It's a really fun moment because it nicely captures the reality of what pre-teen romances are like. Steve, Dustin and Robin definitely steal the show. The team has wonderful chemistry and I really enjoyed their conversations. Watching them decipher the transmission was fun and I liked that all three of them got to inject parts of their character into their conversations without any of them coming off poorly. Billy's story is really interesting, and the editing during his scenes was masterfully done. His insanity is shown really well and it's easy to understand why he is behaving so strangely and we can easily see what it wrong with him. The sequences with him are pretty horrific to watch, but very gripping nevertheless. The return of Mr. Clarke was fantastic, and I lived the use of "My Bologna" when he re-entered the story. His advice to Joyce was good, and I liked that Joyce continually asked good questions to give us the necessary information to try to theorize what could be going on with the magnets. The Bad: There were still problems with this. All of the lies were horribly unconvincing and I was left wondering why many of the characters decided to lie anyways. Mike's poor lies, while funny, felt extremely forced and I don't think he could have convinced my two year old cousin that he was telling the truth. I understand that this is the point, but I find it highly illogical that he would lie so poorly, especially after two seasons where the kids were forced to lie to just about everybody. Hopper's lies to Joyce were also terrible. Surely he understands that she is going to figure out the truth eventually. It's implausible that only Joyce would notice the problem with the magnets. It has happened to Joyce in two different locations, which likely means that it is happening all over Hawkins. Everyone would notice this, so why is Joyce the only one who is reacting? The idea of Dustin hearing a transmission all the way from Russia on his walkie would be nonsensical. That's why I'm confused that the range of the walkie wasn't used to decipher the fact that the transmission happened in Hawkins. It makes much more sense to go that route than to have Steve amazingly realize that one random tune from a ride is the exact sound that was playing during the transmission. Nancy and Jonathan's story is ridiculously dull. We don't learn any new information from their trip (aside from the fact that the rat remains are sentient), and their mission is ridiculously boring. It doesn't further the plot and it doesn't teach us anything new about their characters which makes it a dud of a storyline. Honestly, why is Will even tagging along with the others if he never talks to them and only asks if they can play D&D? The way he is ignored in every scene should really have ended his friendship with Lucas and Mike a long time ago. The Unknown: What happened to Billy? How was there a clone of him in the Upside Down? Are there clones of everyone? What does he plan to do with the lifeguard? Is he trying to raise an army of clones? What exactly is controlling Billy? Is it the Mind Flayer? Could it be tied to the Russians or the rats? What is that goop that the rats transformed into? Does it become some kind of monster? Or something else? I noticed that the rats were eating fertilizer, which I suppose feeds whatever it is that they become. Why do they need the fertilizer? What is causing them to explode anyways? What are the Russians doing in Hawkins? Is it something to do with the rats? Best Moment: The first Billy sequence when he returned and spoke to Mrs. Wheeler was excellently done. Character of the Episode: Billy. Conclusion: This was fine stuff and it improved on the many flaws of the season premier. Still, I feel like this show could use some better writing and more emotional engagement. Score: 58 Summary: In 1984, Russia started performing experiments, attempting to access the Upside Down. They failed and were given one year to succeed. In the present, lives have changed a lot. Mike and El are in an active relationship much to Hopper's chagrin. Billy works as a lifeguard, and Steve works at the new mall. Dustin returns from science camp and the gang meets up with him. Dustin takes them on a trip so that they can talk to his girlfriend. The trip takes too long and nobody answers so everyone leaves. Dustin picks up a Russian transmission. Rats have mysteriously started gathering and combusting at a steel works location. Billy is driving by for a date with Mrs. Wheeler when he is suddenly attacked by a mysterious force.
The Good: The opening and ending of the episode were classic "Stranger Things". I'll dig into the opening scene first. Of course we have an evil scientist corporation to open up the season, though the twist this time is that they are in Russia. I didn't expect that twist, but I think it makes perfect sense and it is a logical way for the Upside Down to be opened up again, since the US is likely not stupid enough to make the same mistake once again. The idea that Russia's experiments took place at the same time as the events of season 2 is a logical choice, and it makes it clear that the effects of their experimentation will be explored this season. The ending of the episode was a classic horror sequence that I enjoyed. Billy was ever the asshole as he returned in this episode (I absolutely loved his introduction scene as a lifeguard, brilliant comedy packed with 80s references). I was nervous that we would have to put up with his absurd, over-the-top character for a while, but it looks like he was immediately sacrificed to whatever the main monster of this season is going to be called, though I doubt he is dead. Still, the final scene was a strong way to give this season some momentum. The rest of the episode had some odd good moments. I liked Joyce missing Bob, it makes his death have more importance to the story, and it makes sense that she hasn't forgotten him over the last year. Hopper had some funny moments throughout the episode as expected, though he was pretty hit-or-miss (see: The Bad). Steve hitting on girls and failing in epic fashion was pretty funny and suitably awkward. Lastly, Dustin's return and his welcoming was a pretty fun moment. The Bad: But as a whole, this was a very poor premier. The episode did a pretty awful job of reintroducing everybody and showing how many things had changed. I do like these characters, but it was hard for me to believe that I liked everyone here because of how unlikable and unrecognizable most of the characters were. The kids hardly spent any time together and they seemed to antagonize each other more than they had fun which is a bad way to get me to care about their friendships. El and Mike's constant kissing got old fast and I don't really care about their relationship since it mostly developed offscreen, and from what I can see it's mostly just a physical relationship. Hopper as an overprotective parent is such a dull storyline that was filled with every trope possible, and it did absolutely nothing for me. Nancy and Jonathan weren't given enough time for me to care about anything they did. Honestly, nobody was put in a good position after this episode and I'm feeling surprisingly indifferent towards the show. A season premier should not make me feel that way. The fact that the repetitive plot was the best part of this episode is really telling of how much of a failure this episode was as a season premier. The pacing of the episode was also really bad. There were so many different stories and the episode was jumping all over the place at far too quick of a pace. It meant that nothing really got the chance to sink in. The scenes that were given time really didn't need so much focus given to them. Do I need so many scenes developing the Billy/Mrs. Wheeler romance? No, I don't. Did we really need to spend so damn long on the bad Hopper subplot, including an awkward scene between Hopper/El/Mike that overstayed its welcome? No, that time could have been used much more efficiently elsewhere. In fact, the wrong scenes were so frequently given too much screentime and that meant that this episode fell into that really awkward place where the pacing was both too quick and too slow at the same time. That made things flow very unevenly. The comedy was a pretty big flop too. Most of the "funny" moments in this episode completely missed the mark. The writers tried to make comedy by just lingering on a scene for longer than they should in an attempt to make the audience have some awkward chuckles. Unfortunately, scenes like these are never funny at all and they fell woefully short of genuine comedy. And I really need to address Hopper's story directly. Hopper is a fun character, so making him do something as bland as be worried about El and Mike's relationship is a really bad use of him. I'm certain there's going to be some big pay-off in an emotional scene later this season between Hopper and El/Mike, but I wish that it could have been built up to in a more interesting way than this. Hopper's "training" from Joyce was nonsensical (why does Joyce think that making Hopper behave so falsely is a good idea), and worse yet was Hopper's inability to memorize the lines or even say anything from his heart. Then the resulting scenes with Hopper and Mike were pretty bad too so it all felt like a pretty big waste of time. The Unknown: Who are the Russians at the beginning? What are their goals? Have they already been successful at accessing the Upside Down? Is the opening scene connected to the mysterious detonating rats? Why are they all gathering at the steel works place? What is in there? What was the monster that attacked Billy? Does it have something to do with the rats? Is it eating the rats? Getting power from the rats? Why did it take Billy? Is Billy dead? What about that mysterious power outage? What was that mysterious thing that was forming? Was that the monster, or something else? What is with the magnets that keep falling in Joyce's house? What is causing that? Is that happening everywhere in Hawkins or just her house? What was the significance of that Russian transmission? Will Dustin understand its importance? Did he record it somehow? Does Dustin actually have a girlfriend? Best Moment: Probably the opening scene. The Russia twist was pretty good. Character of the Episode: A really hard choice since nobody was very likable, even Dustin. I'l go with Joyce. Conclusion: This episode had a really solid opening and ending scene, but everything in between was bad. This is not s good way to start the season and it completely failed to get me excited. Score: 48 Summary: Samaritan barely survives the virus and plans to upload itself to a satellite so that it can recover and return. Finch and Reese head out to kill the remaining part of Samaritan, hidden away on a single server. Finch discovers that they have just 18 minutes to stop Samaritan being uploaded to the satellite and that somebody needs to sacrifice their life. Finch locks Reese away and attempts to give up his life. However, The Machien frees Reese who then freely makes the sacrifice himself after The Machine leads Finch to the wrong building. Reese dies, but Samaritan is stopped. Shaw and Fusco protect The Machine from Samaritan's men. Shaw meets Jeff who she identifies as Root's killer. Jeff escapes an wounds Fusco. Fusco survives and Shaw hunts down Jeff to kill him. Finch goes off the grid and is presumed dead, but he has reunited with Grace. The Machine successfully uploaded itself to the satellite and returns in time. Shaw and Fusco presumably continue to work for it.
The Good: This was a terrific way to end the show, and this episode capitalized on the many emotions of a TV show coming to a close. The opening scene started things out brilliantly, reminding me of the season-opening monologue back in "B.S.O.D." before following it up with flashforwards that strongly hinted at Finch dying to stop Samaritan. I was invested from that moment and I found myself desperate to figure out if Finch would make it out alive. Finch and Reese's story was the best part of this episode. Their friendship has been wonderful throughout the series and it fittingly got the spotlight in this episode. Every moment between the two of them in this episode was wonderful, and the acting from both Michael Emerson and Jim Caviezel certainly lived up to the moments. Jim Caviezel has come along way from the boring, charisma-vacuum he was in season 1, partly because the writers worked around his limitations and mostly from him actually improving as an actor during the show's run. His work in this episode was great and I really bought into the idea of him wanting to save Finch. I particularly enjoyed that Reese actually raised his voice when Finch left him caged, which marks one of the only times I've actually heard Reese panic in such a way. It's a brilliant way to show us how important Finch is to Reese. Reese's sacrifice was a highlight of the series. The moment was so emotional, and I think that having Amy Acker be a stand-in for The Machine was perfect, and it gave The Machine's powerful dialogue about death much more of an impact when we got to see Amy Acker acting out The Machine's slight emotional reaction to the events that were unfolding. I really enjoyed Reese's heroic final stand, and also Finch's distress when he realized that he had been tricked by the two that he trusted more than anyone else because they wanted to save his life. Shaw and Fusco's story was also quite good. I enjoyed that the underground base got to have a presence in the final episode, and Shaw bringing life to the subway train was a really cool moment. Better yet was Shaw coming face to face with Root's killer. The Shaw from the beginning of the series wouldn't hesitate to kill him, but it shows real character that Shaw actually let him live before ultimately killing him when she realized that everyone she cared about (minus Fusco) were likely dead. Another great moment for Shaw came when The Machine told her of Root's final words. I can totally buy that Root would have some final words prepared for The Machine in case she died, and the words had a very profound impact on Shaw, even making her shed a tear which I thought was very good storytelling. Sarah Shahi has been a gem, and her outstanding work on this show has often gone unnoticed. The epilogue part of the episode was really nice. It did its job as a fond farewell to all of the characters while also showing us the fates of Fusco, Shaw and Finch. Each character managed to find their peace in the end, and I found myself cheering when Finch and Grace reunited and when Shaw was contacted by The Machine to continue to save people. Shaw has finally come full circle and has gone from a ruthless killer following orders to a good person making her own decision to save lives. The Bad: Unfortunately, I found a lot of this finale to have been rushed. So much happened in this episode and I think everything would have landed even better than it did if there had been time for every moment to sink in. This episode had the impossible task of compressing the climax of the whole show and the epilogue into just 45 minutes, which was always going to be unsatisfying. I wish that this episode had been given an extra 15 minutes so that there could have been more set-up in the first half of the episode so that we weren't just rushing from exposition to exposition to set up Reese's big sacrifice. One of the biggest casualties of the rushed nature of this episode was Reese and Fusco losing their jobs. This should have been a massive moment for the show because it leaves both Reese and Fusco vulnerable for Samaritan. Yet it feels horribly out of place in this finale because both characters' arcs are resolved at the end of an episode where they are faced with a major change to deal with. It means that the big moment of them being arrested, which should be a very climactic moment, means absolutely nothing to the story as a whole. Hell, I was able to cut that entire scene out of my summary of the episode without any problems. This episode had a bunch of outstanding moments, but there was very little time to go from moment to moment. The episode didn't get the chance to breathe and really soak in the emotion and weight of each moment. We never see anybody mourn Reese. We never see Samaritan directly react to being shut off. We never see what happens to the world during the period when The Machine was inactive. There are many such instances of things like this throughout the episode, and I feel that I have to blame the cancellation of the show for this. Had this season been given 20+ episodes, all of this could have certainly been explored. I was confused why Jeff was left alive. It didn't make any sense why he wouldn't have at least been knocked out or left for the police. Furthermore, Jeff almost killing Fusco went nowhere. Another example of the rushed nature of this episode. There should have been more drama in wondering if Fusco was going to make it out of the series alive. This is just a nitpick but how did Finch not notice that his briefcase was empty? Surely there would be a weight difference. The Unknown: Will Fusco and Shaw continue to work for The Machine? Will The Machine reach out to the government for the relevant numbers or will it just create its own crew of elite assassins? How did the world change after Samaritan and The Machine were taken out? Best Moment: The entire sequence of Reese's sacrifice was some of the best television thsi show has produced. The Machine's lengthy monologue about death and its meaning set up the atmosphere perfectly as Reese went out like a hero, the way he always should have. There was so much emotion to this and it was a fitting way to end Reese's character. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: I thought this was an awesome finale even if it was rushed. There was more than enough emotion to this and I found myself to be satisfied overall. I just wish that there could have been more time given to this story because there was so much potential for some even better stories to be told here. This season was a brilliant way to end the show. There was a healthy mix of POI cases, drama between The Machine and Samaritan, strong character conclusions and emotional moments. This season had everything to be a strong conclusion to the series. The only problem I had was that it was too short. It feels like there was supposed to be much more to the story that was being told, and a number of storylines and episode felt like they were rushed just so we could end the story in a meagre 13 episodes. The series itself was one extremely fun ride. I'm very glad that I watched this show, and I give my thanks to Ben who recommended it to me. The show started off very poorly and it made a pretty bad first impression. But after that, it became one of a very small number of shows that actually corrected its problems and became a much better show as it went on. There's nothing more satisfying than watching a show live up to its full potential, and that's exactly what this show did. There were plenty of standout episodes that I've already watched several times, and I'm already itching to rewatch the best episodes of the show. Sure there are plenty of POI case episodes that I likely won't watch again, but there are always poor episodes in procedural TV shows. In the end, the good certainly outweighed the bad and the show ended with a bang. Score: 76 Summary: Finch smuggles the virus closer towards Samaritan with The Machine's help. Finch infiltrates the NSA and plugs in the virus, but before he can activate the password, he is captured by Samaritan men. Reese and Shaw are guided by The Machine where they steal a modem and activate it. Finch is met by Greer and they argue about the existence of both AIs. It's revealed that the virus will kill The Machine too. During the argument, Finch accidentally reveals that The Machine doesn't know the password. Greer activates poison gas to try to kill himself and Finch. Greer dies but Finch escapes when The Machine contacts him via the modem Reese and Shaw set up. Finch goes to save Reese and Shaw and they escape. Finch activates the virus. Fusco is captured by Agent LeRoux. Fusco is able to turn the tables on LeRoux.
The Good: Finch's mission is a lot of fun to watch. It's satisfying to see him finally working at full force with The Machine to infiltrate the NSA. There are lots of clever moments showing The Machine's capabilities, and it made me buy into the idea of Finch actually succeeding in uploading the virus. That added to the tension, and the scenes in the latter half of the episode were a lot of fun because I was unsure if the virus would actually get installed or not. The subject of the virus led to the return of the phenomenal philosophical talks between Finch and Greer which was excellent. I thought the revelation that the virus will kill The Machine as well as Samaritan added to the stakes and the discussion both, and it also led to some wonderful exploration of the relationship between Finch and The Machine. I liked that Greer put Finch in a position where he was forced to reveal his feelings about why he was willing to sacrifice The Machine to take out Samaritan, and the emphasis on human will in this episode worked as an overall theme. What furthered the exploration into the theme of free will were those simulations that The Machine showed Finch of what would become of everyone had they not been involved with The Machine. These tied in with Finch's idea of free will and where each of the characters would end up whether there was an AI around or not. The resulting world being a mixture of good and bad was perfect, and it really highlighted how the world will simply go on no matter what happens. It added extra weight to Finch's big decision at the end of the episode, because at that point he knew that the world wouldn't necessarily be a better place without The Machine, yet he decided to pull the plug anyways. The ending itself is huge. Samaritan has already started to glitch out and it's only a matter of time until both AIs are dead. It's an exciting cliffhanger that promises a huge episode up next to close out the show. This episode was a perfect set-up episode in this regard. The Bad: Greer's death was wholly unsatisfying. It made sense to have him die believing in Samaritan continuing his legacy, but I felt that his death was so unnecessary and ultimately meaningless, almost as if the writers couldn't come up with a logical way to kill him. The fact that he died in the chamber but Finch somehow survived made little sense to me and it felt like too convenient of a way to write Greer out of the story. Furthermore, the motivation behind him killing himself made no sense. Surely he needs to stay alive to ensure that people listen to Samaritan and to ensure that there is a human in charge of everyone else. An AI can't exactly interact with the human world, there needs to be a man in charge to do that for it. Why was it so simple for Finch to get to Samaritan? Surely there should have been a much better defense system in place in case Finch got through. After dealing with Samaritan as a villain for 2 full seasons, it shouldn't have been this easy to get to it. The Unknown: Did Fusco kill LeRoux? Can The Machine or Samaritan somehow survive the virus? Can the virus be removed somehow? What will be everyone's fate? If The Machine is destroyed, what purpose would all of the characters have? What will be their ending? Best Moment: Finch and Greer's lengthy debate about if the world would be better off without a godly AI in charge. These two had me glued to my seat. Character of the Episode: Finch. Conclusion: This was a great set-up episode that got me really excited for the series finale. There was one major misstep with Greer's anticlimactic death, but other than that this was great. Score: 68 Summary: Ross and Chandler argue over who came up with a joke. Monica gets mad at Phoebe when she says she is too high maintenance. Joey gets a job at Central Perk as a waiter.
The Good: There are a few odd funny moments here. I enjoyed Ross and Chandler getting Monica to decide who is telling the truth. Chandler telling Monica that he enjoys maintaining her was a sweet little moment. The Bad: This episode is atrociously written. Of all three storylines, only Joey's has any real comedic potential to it and that story is the one used as a background C story, plus it isn't even funny. All we get is Joey overacting which is when he is at his least funniest. Everything that happens is far too over-the-top for me to actually laugh at. Chandler and Ross arguing is very dull. None of the jokes the writers come up with are funny, and calling them jokes is pretty generous. Monica is horrible in this episode. She has been teased since the beginning of the show for her overly anal behaviour, so why does it bother her so much when Phoebe says she is high maintenance? Very sloppy character writing. The likable Monica from earlier seasons has been replaced by this loud, angry, child of a woman in an attempt from the writers to make the show funnier. It hasn't worked at all. Best Moment: Chandler ensuring Monica that he enjoys maintaining her. Character of the Episode: Chandler. Conclusion: Another terrible episode. The writing this season has taken a very big hit and the laughs per episode ratio has fallen of a cliff. Score: 41 Summary: June convinces Eleanor to not kill Lawrence since she needs him. June begins putting her plan to save the kids into motion, but it gets screwed when Lawrence flees. When he returns, Lawrence reveals that he doesn't have the authority to get anybody out of Gilead now that he is being watched. June convinces him to take her to Jezebel's where she can speak with Billy, the contact that was helping get the kids out. After offering him Lawrence's house, she leaves Billy to think on the deal. June is seen by Winslow. Winslow tries to rape her and June fights back, ultimately killing him. June is smuggled out of Jezebel's while the Marthas dispose of the evidence. June and Lawrence prepare for war. Fred and Serena meet with Tuello who drives them into Canada where they are promptly arrested.
The Good: The Lawrences remain one of the best parts of this season. I'm really enjoying this slow transformation of Lawrence from a criminal to hero. While the middle of the season lost the plot surrounding Lawrence, this episode did a much better job of showing the conflict within him as he struggles to push himself over the edge to actively helping June's cause. The scene with him and Eleanor at the beginning is excellent, some good follow-up on the significant events from the last episode. To contrast Lawrence being vulnerable at the beginning of the episode, we get the end of the episode where Lawrence has seemingly resigned himself to his new role as he prepares to fully oppose Gilead, siding himself with June. Speaking of June, her story is great in this episode. She is working very hard to actually do something, which is very refreshing. If June had shown this same determination to save Hannah/escape Gilead, I think that some of June's earlier storylines could have been better. Needless to say, her urgency in this episode added a lot of tension, and I was invested in her scenes with Billy and the Marthas. The climax of June's story is horrific, yet awesome. Winslow is shown as pure evil here, and honestly I was originally groaning because I thought that June would just be raped here as the show spins its wheels yet again by making Winslow the most boring character ever, a literal clone of Fred. Instead, the show goes in a surprising new direction as June brutally murders Winslow, showing that she is done being the victim now. This murder propels the plot in a big way as Gilead will likely be after June and Lawrence for a crime. It took 11 episodes, but finally there has been some change in the stakes and the world this season. Speaking of change, Fred and Serena's story is very good and also leads to a big, game-changing ending. We get to see Fred and Serena bonding again and their scenes are actually quite good here. I liked seeing them reflect on where they could have been without Gilead, plus we even got Fred coming to terms with him being sterile. It's a nice moment for them and serves as their peak moment before their fall at the end of the episode. In the end, Tuello doesn't care about the Waterfords at all and instead chooses to arrest them, finally giving these two some consequences for the awful things they have done. Plus, there is possibly a hidden story in play here which is pretty interesting (see: The Unknown). The Bad: It's hard to care about what happens in this episode unfortunately. Sure, this was easily the most dramatic, exciting and game-changing episode of the season, but I wasn't feeling as excited as I should have been. The set-up to the key moments in this episode was botched horribly in different ways. I'll start with June killing Winslow. Winslow's death suffers from him being a shallow and boring character, making his attempted rape of June a much less interesting scene than if somebody like Fred was going to rape her instead. Winslow wasn't set up as a character in any way, and he came off as more of a means to an end than an actual player in the story like he was supposed to. He simply existed to die, and I think that's a really poor reason to introduce a new character. It's a shame that he did nothing interesting at all before dying. Furthermore, killing Winslow isn't the pivotal moment for June that it should be. She has been breaking rules left and right this season and facing no consequences. So why should we care if she killed Winslow? I'm certain she is going to get away scot-free in the end. Additionally, we have seen June openly rebel many times before, so this scene isn't as impactful as it tries to be. Fred and Serena getting their comeuppance is good but I think it took far too long for the story to get here. Had this happened back at the end of season 2 when the Waterford story was still interesting to me, I would have reacted to this much more positively than I did now. The Unknown: Who will come after Lawrence and June? How will they escape safely? Will Billy take June's offer for Lawrence's house? How is June going to get Lawrence to give up his house to Billy? How does she plan to get Gilead to accept this deal? Did Serena set Fred up to be arrested? It doesn't seem that way based on her reactions, but the hints are there to suggest that everything that Serena did after coming from Canada was to arrest Fred. We haven't seen Canada since that episode so many Luke was in on the plot. Best Moment: Winslow's death was a real surprise and it changes the story in a big way. Character of the Episode: June. Conclusion: This was a big episode but I thought it left a lot to be desired. By all rights, this should have been way better than it actually was and I think that the sloppy plot movement going into this episode made it really hard to invest myself in the key moments. It was still a good episode, but it should have been better. Score: 60 Summary: Reese, Fusco, and Shaw briefly mourn Root but they have to move on as the next POI is the president. Reese attends a gala where the president is going to be and encounters Logan. Shaw is there too and together they prevent a placed bomb from killing anyone. A warning appears stating that the president will die tomorrow because of illegal government surveillance. Shaw captures a suspect and she interrogates him. She releases him and follows him to his group. Fusco is her back-up. They discover a group of normal people who want to make a change. Together, everyone saves the president from the threat on his life. Logan is revealed to be part of a group consisting of himself, Joey and Harper who now work for The Machine to save lives. They secure a safe exit for Reese, Fusco and Shaw and give Reese a lead on Finch. Meanwhile, Finch is on the run and makes it to a Samaritan facility where he installs a virus. He escapes with the help of The Machine.
The Good: This episode felt like the definitive, final number-of-the-week case. There was some extra effort put in, making this case feel more important and enjoyable than usual, and the four main characters each got to have their moments to shine throughout the episode. Furthermore, having the team save the president felt like a great final mission, and having it be a total success gave the number-of-the-week cases a feel-good ending despite teasing us more than usual that something might go wrong. I really liked the reveal of Logan, Joey and Harper being another team hired by The Machine. It makes perfect sense since there are obviously other places outside New York where crime takes place. Of course there have to be multiple teams to stop crime elsewhere in America. It's an interesting way to have the show address a plot hole that has existed since the very beginning of the show. Additionally, it serves as a passing of the torch as it seems like the original crew have been replaced and their legacy lives on through the lives of the people they have saved that decided to do good. It's a really uplifting story and it provides a beautiful conclusion for the POI cases regardless of what happens in the final two episodes. The most interesting parts of this episode were the small character moments. Shaw was a stand-out as we got to see her mourning Root by falling further into her emotionless shell than usual. The scene where she tortured Charlie was borderline uncomfortable and it nicely demonstrated Shaw falling back into brutality to avoid facing her emotions. I do wonder if she was subconsciously reminiscing of her first meeting with Root where she got tortured, which is a nice touch. Finch's side story was a lot of fun too. There were some good moments where he got to reveal how he is dealing with Root's death which felt very organic since having to listen to her voice constantly would force him to face these emotions. Additionally, watching The Machine operate at full potential is as joyful as ever, and I really enjoyed the sequence where Finch escaped from the Samaritan location using many of The Machine's loopholes. Technically this episode isn't entirely accurate as a summation of POI cases because majority of the usual tropes and cliches weren't used in this episode. Though that definitely isn't a bad thing, and I'm glad that the show avoided falling into its biggest pitfalls in this episode. Hell we even got a scene where Reese and Shaw intentionally let a captive go instead of them randomly becoming sloppy and letting him escape. I liked that a lot. The Bad: This episode wasn't perfect. The villains were boring and I never really felt any fear for the life of the president or the main characters. The attempt to escalate the stakes by having the president be a number didn't really work at all because of this episode's placement. The last episode was the most intense episode of the entire show, so no matter what the next episode was always going to feel like a step down. I also wasn't a fan of Reese and Shaw escaping so easily, even if they did have Joey's help. They took shots at the president, surely the secret service would have locked down the whole building. Logan having a lead on Finch which popped out of nowhere was a bit too convenient for my liking. The writers didn't even try to hide how convenient it was. The Unknown: Are there more teams working for The Machine? Will we ever see more teams? Will these three help out Team Machine in the next two episodes? The tone of their conversation with Reese didn't really seem to suggest that though. Were Logan, Joey and Harper originally supposed to have more significant roles in the story? I wonder how much was lost when the show got cancelled. I am happy with them showing up as brief cameos, but I do feel like there is potential for more story. Where was that virus from? Was it the one that Finch obtained earlier in the season? Or is it a new one? I'm not entirely sure. Best Moment: Probably the final conversation between Reese and Fusco, and Logan, Joey and Harper. It felt like a passing of the torch moment. Character of the Episode: Shaw. Conclusion: This was a fun episode with a sense of finality. It neatly celebrated the show's run and made me feel the emotion of the show reaching its end. Even though the story was nothing special, I appreciated this episode. Score: 65 Summary: Finch goes to the place he and Grace had their first date but that gives away his cover. Elias smuggles Finch back to the hotel where he met Reese and hides him there. Reese, Root and Shaw give the attack to Samaritan but they still send men to get Finch. Elias tries to get Finch out to escape but he is killed and Finch is taken. Root and Shaw arrive to free Finch and Root drives him away while Shaw stays behind to fight. Samaritan's men give chase but Root kills them. Jeff is guided to a sniper spot where he shoots at the car and ends up hitting Root. The police stop the car and Finch is arrested. Root succumbs to her wounds. While being interrogated, Finch decrees that he will kill Samaritan for what it has done. The Machine, using Root's voice, contacts Finch and breaks him out of the prison. Reese and Shaw go to the prison to find Finch but discover that he has escaped while Fusco goes to the hospital where he learns of Root's fate.
The Good: What a crazy episode! The most impressive part about this episode was its pacing. This episode was packed with huge, impactful moments that flowed from one to each other at a breathless and rapid pace, and yet the episode still gave each moment the perfect amount of time for it to really stick and leave an impact on us. I'm not sure that I've ever seen an episode paced this well before. The fantastic pacing aided the palpable tension that was felt throughout the episode. With Finch as the POI this week, the episode immediately felt important, and with only 4 episodes left until the show's conclusion, it felt like everyone was in danger. Because of that sense of danger, the frantic pace and the importance of the episode, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It really felt like this episode would have some huge consequences, as the constant hinting of Finch saying he doesn't want to lose any friends made it really seem like there was going to be a major loss in this episode. And then the deaths hit in the middle portion of the episode and they were both outstanding moments. I'll start with Elias who got a perfect farewell in his final scenes. I thought that Elias' "death" in "YHWH" was seriously underwhelming and I didn't feel anything from it. This was handled so much better. In these last two episode we finally got to see Elias shine as a character as he joined Team Machine full-time. I think Elias was severely underutilized in the first 4 seasons, so it feels refreshing for him to get the spotlight he deserves. His final scenes were all brilliant as the show really celebrated his character and the way that he inspired loyalty in the criminal underground with so many allies hidden away in that hotel complex. Additionally, the return to the hotel complex was perfect. It's where we first got to know Elias and it's also where we get to say goodbye to him as well. His actual death was excellently done. It was such a sudden moment, but I think that really helped accentuate the shock and fear of his death as well as the impact that his death had on Finch who was standing right there. The scene was paced perfectly too, his death came as a sudden gut-punch but the scene kept going, giving us frequent shots of Elias' motionless body to allow the moment to really sink in for us and allow the heavy emotion of his loss to really settle in. After that, the suspense throughout the rest of the episode practically killed me. Elias was gone only halfway through the episode and his death entirely got me to believe that anybody else could die in the back half of the episode. The tension in the episode was immediately elevated by this change. Following Elias, we had to say farewell to Root as well. Root's death was handled similarly to Elias' where she wasn't given any grand, dramatic farewell. She simply took a fatal wound protecting her friend and died later in the episode. The slow reveal of her death was really well done and it came off as a confirmation of our worst fears which added to the bleak tone of the episode. Furthermore, I like the idea of Root dying to save Finch as it nicely rounded off the redemption arc her character went through in heartbreaking fashion. The episode did a nice job of celebrating Root as a character while also touching on her key relationships. We got some final scenes between her and Finch as they continued to discuss the state of The Machine and what needs to be done, but this time there was less conflict than before. It was simply a case of Root letting Finch know that she has faith in him, which does make me wonder if The Machine had actually informed her that she was going to die. Additionally, we got some ridiculous over-the-top action scene from Root as she blew up that car which I think is a fair way to give her one last hurrah, even if it did have some drawbacks to it (see: The Bad). We also got a lovely scene between Root and Shaw during the shootout as they got to embrace each other in the heat of battle. The moment was lovely, and I applaud the writers for deciding to make Root and Shaw's defining couple-moment to be them killing people together, which is certainly the more logical way for them to bond rather than holding hands like they did earlier in the episode. That showed that the writers understood what made this relationship work. As a final way to honour Root, the episode adds in a wonderfully powerful final touch of getting The Machine to pick Root's voice to use. I thought the ending of the episode was phenomenal. Finch's speech to Samaritan at the end was probably the show's single greatest moment (see: Best Moment) as we got to see the "pot boil over" as Elias had referenced a couple episodes ago. After witnessing two of his friends die, Finch is in no mood to sit around in some cell. He has finally been pushed past his limit and Michael Emerson does a fantastic job of portraying Finch's disappointment in how he got punished so badly while trying to be the morally correct one. Finch's sadness and regret is easy to see and the way he channels that and turns it into desire for vengeance is completely understandable and a very logical step for the character to take. In the end, this whole episode built up to this moment and I'm very excited to see what Finch does next. Lastly, I really liked the way that Finch ended up getting his cover blown. Having him visit the place where he and Grace had their first date felt like a genuinely human moment. Before embarking on the final war with Samaritan, Finch allowed himself one moment to appreciate his life, and that one moment caused all of the mayhem in this episode which resulted in him losing 2 very close friends. The Bad: A few odd things didn't work for me. The show has been extremely inconsistent with how covers are blown. I thought for sure that Reese's cover was blown multiple times in previous episodes, but for some reason he can just keep using his detective Riley alias. So when Finch's cover gets blown for something so small and trivial, it doesn't make sense to me at all, and it makes less sense how Samaritan can so easily keep track of him when it was so easy for Team Machine to lose Samaritan in earlier episodes. Root destroying that car in such a cartoonish way didn't really fit the episode. I've grown to enjoy the show's cheesy action scenes since they are very clearly done in a way to sort of mock the trope, but I thought the addition of a parody action scene in one of the most intense episodes of the series was a poor idea. The sudden and convenient removal of the minigun threat, coupled with the ridiculous idea of Root shooting at it with pinpoint accuracy while driving a car really didn't work for me at all and it made the main characters seem invincible in an episode which had made a point of removing all plot armour from every character. Add in the laughably bad explosion at the end of the scene, and it really took me out of the episode for a couple of minutes. Having Elias come back to life only to die a few episodes later was odd and it didn't make his return feel very important. I presume this only happened because of the cancellation so I can forgive it. Plus, the writers used his character perfectly after his return so I can say that it definitely wasn't a waste of time. I'm not sure if I missed anything, but how can Finch talk to The Machine directly through cameras? Isn't Samaritan listening too? The Unknown: What is Finch going to do next? Does he have any plan to attack Samaritan? Where will he go to be safe? How are Root, Shaw and Fusco going to find him? Best Moment: Finch's speech was an outstanding moment. Michael Emerson is fantastic every time I see him, and I think this was his best work in this show. Every line was delivered with the perfect amount of anger, regret and sadness and I think that made it so much easier to really understand Finch's emotions throughout this scene. This was the perfect way to mark Finch's transformation from a weak, kind-hearted guy into a vengeful monster. Character of the Episode: Finch for sure. Conclusion: This was an incredible episode. So much was accomplished in this episode without anything feeling rushed which really impressed me. Two major deaths, a shocking but believable character transformation, and epic cliffhanger and an outstanding pace. This episode had it all, and because of that, I think this was the best episode of the show so far and I don't think it will be topped. Score: 87 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
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