Last night, I watched the season
finales of two very different shows. One of freshman spy drama, THE AMERICANS,
which is one of my favorite new shows; and the other, BLUE BLOODS, a crime
procedural that definitely stands out from among the many shows of that genre…
‘THE AMERICANS’ WINDS UP WELL
When THE AMERICANS started, what
impressed me the most were the performances by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys,
and over the course of the first season, while the spy drama was exciting and
kept me at the edge of my seat, what really hooked me was the beautiful
relationship that Elizabeth and Philip share. The mutual understanding between
them about everything from assassinations to raising their kids, and the subtleties
in the restraint between them, despite pure emotions and feelings they have for
each other—all of it is written so well, and performed exceptionally by the two
actors. Towards the end, when Philip moves out of the house, it was a direction
that I didn’t expect the show to take, but I liked how that brought out so many
of the characters’ emotions to the surface, while simultaneously making them
even less expressive of those emotions. On the other hand, what the show managed
to do really well was handle the secondary relationships equally well, whether
it was Stan’s relationship with his wife, or Nina; Elizabeth’s relationship
with the amazing Claudia; or even Philip (as Clark) and Martha’s relationship for
that matter. Nina is a character I grew to love, and while Martha is gullible
and a lovesick romantic, I still find her endearing, even if it’s just because I
feel bad for her. And Claudia—well, she’s one the most fascinating old-lady
characters I’ve seen on screen!
As we approached the finale, I like
how the stakes went up for everyone, whether it was because of how Claudia
tricked Elizabeth and Philip, or because Elizabeth’s friend Derek had to take
the fall for something they’d done, or because Stan’s partner was killed, or
even because of Philip’s indiscretion with an old flame. The finale itself was
well conceived, with two simultaneous missions, in which the stakes were high for
everyone involved, along with the developments in the Clark-Martha relationship.
The discovery of the set-up and the involvement of the Russian Embassy gave way
to a thrilling chase and climax. And the season ended with Elizabeth making a
heartfelt but simple appeal to Philip, while there was even a subtle
cliffhanger involving their daughter. The writers could pretty much do anything
they want with the show from here, but it’s clear that the kids are going to
feature more prominently in season two. They’ll have questions of all kinds. Philip
and Elizabeth’s complex relationship is bound to get even more complicated,
given the Martha situation, and Stan and the FBI are going to have to try a
whole new approach. The first season captured so many intriguing plots and
layers in storytelling, and I’m definitely hoping to see many more!
BEST ‘BLUE BLOODS’ SEASON FINALE YET
The two-part season three finale of
BLUE BLOODS started with a suicide, which was disturbing as it was, and then
they throw Santana at us with his lame hand gestures, yet coming off as pretty
scary, being as daring as he was, presenting himself like that in front of the
NYPD. The episode went on to thrill with other such moments, like when Danny and
his partner Maria are set up to confront Santana and his people. While the
Reagans have faced many situations where they’re up against misfits, something
like this has not been seen on the show so far, and I was hooked. This was some
really good material for the finale.
When Jamie Reagan and his partner
Vinny are set up to face fire at The Bitter End, I had a feeling that it
wouldn’t end well. And it didn’t. Vinny’s death, especially because of the way
he struggled after beings shot (performed excellently by Sebastian Sozzi),
really disturbed me, because he died at a place where he’d grown up, because he
was a genuinely nice guy with an interesting bad-boy streak, because he and
Jamie made good partners, and because he was an interesting character. His
death upped the stakes for everyone, and rightfully so. Danny and the NYPD
pulling up in front of Santana to return an earlier threat was more than called
for. And what intrigued me about this story is that it was a tricky one to
write, and wasn’t really predictable. Of course, the writers could’ve screwed
up part two by making things conveniently fall into place, but I think that the
season three finale of BLUE BLOODS was probably the best season finale of the
show yet. While Danny doesn’t back down and follows through with his pursuit of
Santana, the mayor gets hit, making things worse. I liked that they explored
the story further with the kid from The Bitter End who had recognized Vinny, making
Jamie an integral part of the finale; or even Nona, who Danny needed to get on
his good side. The end offered a great sense of gratification, when Santana and
his people were taken away, amidst cheers from the residents of The Bitter End.
And the season ended beautifully with a classic Sunday-dinner scene. This is
how a season finale should be. There need not be a big cliffhanger, as long as
there’s a compelling story wherein the intensity and stakes for everyone are
high, making it engaging for us.
What did you think of the season
finales of THE AMERICANS? Are you glad it’s returning for a second season?
Which part of the BLUE BLOODS season finale did you like the most? Share your
views here…
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