Unlike others in the review section I have really enjoyed this season, finding it tense and thought provoking at times. I could probably have done without the camp utopia episode but I get the punch it delivers when we see Dot look out from her prison to the Tillman tower aka Linda grave site. Episode 9 had me on the edge of my seat even though the start of some foolish behaviour crept in ... eg Dot leaving her gun up top when she climbed into the pit, even though she apparently has some sort of incomprehensible SAS / home-alone-style ninja training.
The start of this episode felt insulting with all the tomfoolery. Does no one know about shooting people in the leg ?! Dot hits Roy in the stomach and that's fine, I get wanting to have your stand off rather than going for a kill shot, but immobilise him with a swift one in the foot too surely? And don't get me started on Witt. He follows Roy without backup to avenge Dot, okay I suppose, but then ends up taking a fatal stab wound to the heart in a one on one stand off with a severely wounded guy while he's got his gun on him? Help ! I'm sure every viewer was collectively screaming at the tv for Witt to shoot him, and not in a fun this-is-such-thrilling-television way either. Again, maybe Witt didn't want to kill Roy without bringing him to justice, but how hard was it to pop one in Roy's kneecap or better yet, shoot the hand holding the knife? Add into all of this that Witt is a gun trained police deputy and we're past the point of suspending disbelief.
Overall I wasn't thrilled with how the plot wrapped up here either. Maybe I'm being very pedestrian but I could have done with a Dot / Roy face off. In the previous episode Roy commands one of his men to finally dispense of Dot saying 'the closest I've ever come to feeling something, I felt for her', and this could have opened up some room for much needed character depth from Roy in a final showdown instead of him continuously being portrayed as a Big Nasty Cartoon Baddie. The lengths he goes to in his cat and mouse hunt for Dot warranted a closer look at Roy's character and motives I think. Maybe the Dot / Roy showdown could have culminated in Witt's silly little death and I would have forgiven it more, but as it stands it felt like Witt died for nothing in particular. If he'd escorted Dot back to the FBI and let Roy escape & Gator give him up, the outcome would have been the exact same except Witt would be at home with his cat after, yanno?
Speaking of Gator, he was certainly one of the more interesting and complex characters this season and I think Joe Keery did a good job. I was so worried for him in episode 9 even though he was such a grade A prick the whole time. I kinda figured out the writers would have Gator be Roy's demise and we'd see a tender moment between Gator and Dot, but this could have been executed in a more exciting way. Sure, we could hardly have Gator physically destroy Roy given his incapacitation but I think they moved on from the ambush a bit too swiftly and didn't give it the momentum it deserved. I think I wanted more from our last moments with Gator to be on how he still likes oatmeal cookies as well. Just seemed a bit twee.
Finally, on the subject of twee, the second half of this finale was just that for me. There were interesting philosophical points made for sure, lots of symbolism and Christian analogy, but ultimately it came off as pretty saccharine without much tension for me. Everything Dot said while sat on her couch and at her dinner table was clearly supposed to be very powerful but it was delivered with such a Sesame Street tone and on the nose vernacular that I found it quite hard not to cringe. There was no part of me that felt she could still be in danger from Munch so it lacked any tension and just felt like a gentle parenting session. Munch was an interesting character overall and I wouldn't have liked the season so much without him, but he deserved a better setting for his final soliloquy and redemption.
Last last thing, I loved Jennifer Jason Leigh this season. She was a perfect anti-hero: cold, camp, cut throat (in the way billionaires cut throats, you know). She showed her love through practicality not sentimentality and that was a welcome antidote to other didactic elements of the season.
The start of this episode felt insulting with all the tomfoolery. Does no one know about shooting people in the leg ?! Dot hits Roy in the stomach and that's fine, I get wanting to have your stand off rather than going for a kill shot, but immobilise him with a swift one in the foot too surely? And don't get me started on Witt. He follows Roy without backup to avenge Dot, okay I suppose, but then ends up taking a fatal stab wound to the heart in a one on one stand off with a severely wounded guy while he's got his gun on him? Help ! I'm sure every viewer was collectively screaming at the tv for Witt to shoot him, and not in a fun this-is-such-thrilling-television way either. Again, maybe Witt didn't want to kill Roy without bringing him to justice, but how hard was it to pop one in Roy's kneecap or better yet, shoot the hand holding the knife? Add into all of this that Witt is a gun trained police deputy and we're past the point of suspending disbelief.
Overall I wasn't thrilled with how the plot wrapped up here either. Maybe I'm being very pedestrian but I could have done with a Dot / Roy face off. In the previous episode Roy commands one of his men to finally dispense of Dot saying 'the closest I've ever come to feeling something, I felt for her', and this could have opened up some room for much needed character depth from Roy in a final showdown instead of him continuously being portrayed as a Big Nasty Cartoon Baddie. The lengths he goes to in his cat and mouse hunt for Dot warranted a closer look at Roy's character and motives I think. Maybe the Dot / Roy showdown could have culminated in Witt's silly little death and I would have forgiven it more, but as it stands it felt like Witt died for nothing in particular. If he'd escorted Dot back to the FBI and let Roy escape & Gator give him up, the outcome would have been the exact same except Witt would be at home with his cat after, yanno?
Speaking of Gator, he was certainly one of the more interesting and complex characters this season and I think Joe Keery did a good job. I was so worried for him in episode 9 even though he was such a grade A prick the whole time. I kinda figured out the writers would have Gator be Roy's demise and we'd see a tender moment between Gator and Dot, but this could have been executed in a more exciting way. Sure, we could hardly have Gator physically destroy Roy given his incapacitation but I think they moved on from the ambush a bit too swiftly and didn't give it the momentum it deserved. I think I wanted more from our last moments with Gator to be on how he still likes oatmeal cookies as well. Just seemed a bit twee.
Finally, on the subject of twee, the second half of this finale was just that for me. There were interesting philosophical points made for sure, lots of symbolism and Christian analogy, but ultimately it came off as pretty saccharine without much tension for me. Everything Dot said while sat on her couch and at her dinner table was clearly supposed to be very powerful but it was delivered with such a Sesame Street tone and on the nose vernacular that I found it quite hard not to cringe. There was no part of me that felt she could still be in danger from Munch so it lacked any tension and just felt like a gentle parenting session. Munch was an interesting character overall and I wouldn't have liked the season so much without him, but he deserved a better setting for his final soliloquy and redemption.
Last last thing, I loved Jennifer Jason Leigh this season. She was a perfect anti-hero: cold, camp, cut throat (in the way billionaires cut throats, you know). She showed her love through practicality not sentimentality and that was a welcome antidote to other didactic elements of the season.