A solid series finale, although probably not as good as I was hoping. The show's produced some cracking stories in the past: from Curtis' zombie noir, to Simon and Alisha's eternal love cycle, to Kelly head-butting Hitler. Tonight's episode wasn't quite as epic, although Alex stealing Sam's power mid-air will take some beating in terms of iconic show moments. And at least the misfits finally became heroes. What a pity we'll never see them in action.
In the future, Finn and Rudy's lives had diverged in unexpected directions. Finn was a newly appointed Probation Worker, while Rudy was reduced to watching nineteen and a half hour Murder She Wrote marathons. Losing Jess obviously had a profound effect on Rudy. (And I'm not just talking about his grooming and personal hygiene.) Last week he refused to take responsibility for what he then thought was his own child, tonight he was willing to bring up baby Leo as his own. Now that's growth.
Initially, I pondered the logic of Jess getting pregnant again to Eric. She didn't have to have his baby. She could have had one with Rudy instead. Ironically, it was Rudy who made her start loving baby Leo—all he had to do was draw her attention to how beautiful he was, and Jess gradually grew more and more attached. So wiping him from history wasn't an option—they were connected—and since she knew Rudy would accept him anyway, she did the only logical thing—she became pregnant, and then killed Luke.
I'm a little fuzzy on what happened after Jess' suicide. Did Luke take her back in time again in an attempt to force a do-over? Whatever his reasons, not only did it save Jess from a life of misery, Rudy from dying, and produce a child, it also prevented the R-Men from turning into villains. Maybe they were just too young to handle the responsibility of being heroes. Sam's Hulk impersonation seems proof of that. And with Rudy 2 and Helen now set on travelling the world together, maybe their future will be different. Perhaps a future not governed by jumper patterns will make Helen a better person. Or Rudy 2 will be dead within a month.
Greg coming out of the closet, although completely unsurprising, was a nice capstone to Greg and Stuart's stories. Stuart finally became comfortable in his own skin, and Greg at last officially confessed to being gay. Whether it'll help him with his anger issues is anyone's guess—maybe love will soften him. And at least he didn't die. That has to count for something on a show where dead Probation Workers are as numerous as branded frozen dessert cones.
Sam falling to his death and exploding into pieces, echoed perfectly his own method of dispatching 'wankers'. Like Karen's death, however, his passing generated virtually no pathos. Both characters were too underdeveloped for us to care, but provided the perfect fodder for two of the episodes' most hilarious set pieces. Alex's method of defeating Sam was poetry in motion. Mounting him mid-flight, stripping him of his jumpsuit, fucking his power out of him, and then falling into a dumpster, was the most preposterous take down I've ever seen. The thumbs up was just perfect.
And Finn's power actually came in handy for once. It saved Alex from suffering the same gruesome fate as Sam, and smashed the living shit out of Karen. Finn's power must be growing—that piano looked heavy. When Karen started stabbing people, I got the sinking feeling that people were about to start dying. Thankfully, it was only the bad guys. And Rudy, of course; not that he stayed dead for long. Killing Rudy would have been devastating, and for a while, I thought that Rudy 2 might die. Instead, he realised that he was stronger with his foul-mouthed other half, and they re-amalgamated to defeat the R-Men.
I honestly didn't think Misfits would end happily, but it did. I think I'm pleased about that. I'm not sure where Misfits will figure in the line-up of great genre TV shows. It was unique, it took risks, it frequently disgusted, yet it never forgot that at heart it was a character ensemble. It survived numerous personnel changes, endured the occasional scandal, but always bounced back. I'll miss it now it's gone. There's nothing quite like it on TV. Farewell, Misfits—it was good while it lasted.
Other Thoughts:
—Rudy saving them by pissing himself was great pay-off from an earlier episode plot point.
—Nice social commentary from Sam. The justice system is a joke. Courts are often powerless, able only to dish out community service, fines which can't be paid, and a whole host of other ineffectual punishments. I'm not sure killing everyone is the answer though.
—Which scratch card only pays out a quid on three matches?
—Double banking corpses under the flyover? Just when you thought the misfits were bad, along comes out a group which outdoes them.
Quotes:
Rudy: "One more melon, that's me. You fucking....Apple!"
Rudy: "Do you know what I was doing when you so rudely interrupted me?"
Alex: "I'm guessing it wasn't showering."
Rudy: "I was nineteen and a half hours through a Murder She Wrote marathon."
Jess: "You look like shit."
Rudy: "It's been a bit of a rough year. My vigorous grooming and personal hygiene regime might have... slipped, just a bit.""
Rudy: "Looks at his tiny little hands. Strong enough to crush a grown man's heart, they are."
Abby: "Is that milk?"
Rudy: "Oh my god, I'm lactating. Love's stronger than biology, guys."
Rudy: "All right, so what I'm thinking you need to do, you need to mount him in mid-flight, you need to rip his jumpsuit off, and just fuck his power out of him."
Greg: "You won't have realised this about me, but I'm gay. I am a beautiful, and proud, gay Probation Worker."
Stuart: "So am I."
Rudy: "Dude! Did you see that? That was a G flat, because she's flat and her fucking name begins with G."
Helen: "Her name's Karen."
Rudy: "Is it?"
Rudy: "I deliberately pissed myself. You've just been killed by my weak, infantile bladder."
Rudy: "This could be the start of something huge. I feel it in my nut-sack."
3 comments:
For a show which finished its relatively short five year run with an entirely different cast, you have to applaud Howard Overman for meeting the challenge and excelling. This was a show that was as funny at the end as the beginning.
Weren't they supposed to be doing a movie?
@anonymous Yeah, the idea died a death. I think scripts were written, but getting everyone together at the same time proved a hurdle too high.
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