90 Day Pinochet

I also enjoyed the Party Down reference, however an irrational part of me is still holding out hope that Willie the Wino didn't totally disappear and will be played by Adam Scott in a future episode:

Considering that I organized my travel plans so that I could soak in some Kentucky sites and atmosphere (see: bourbon) over the weekend before the finale, I am definitely in the tank (and the bag apparently) for this show. So, while I may have been a little harder on some of the fan servicey elements of this finale if this was another show, Yost and crew earned the excess in this finale and I was more than happy to receive them. Also, while I was surprised about how nearly everything went down (except Duffy) and only sometimes for the better, that last scene was perfection and it is still killing me.

Yes, they knew that he was armed and had already shot Carl and an officer of the law/unimpeachable badass (Bob) and as a result they had probable cause to believe that Boyd posed a significant threat of death or serious bodily harm to the officers on the scene or others he would encounter as he fled the scene.

While Vasquez may not hold Raylan in the highest regard, Vasquez rarely sees the greater good as not aligned with his own self-interest. I think his regard for his own personal reputation wouldn't let him simultaneously be a principal part of the Ava CI deal and the plan to get Boyd on RICO charges, while hoping to ensnare Raylan in the process. In order for Raylan to be brought up on something by Vasquez, their entire plan would have to go pear-shaped and Vasquez would have to go into total CYA-mode in order not to take a reputational hit.However, now that everything has blown up in Vasquez's face, I think he will aid the process of shit rolling downhill by grabbing a shovel and trying to bury Raylan with it.

In the finale episode thread there was talk about, "why the focus on red poncho?" Given that under slightly different circumstances red poncho could have been a part of the ASZ, the red poncho is distinctive and memorable to the audience, the Wolves are not far, and the double-ewww crew uses walkers as tools, I believe red poncho is Chekhov's Roamer. When the Wolves inevitably unleash their walker menagerie against the ASZ, I fear that red pocho will claim the life of an important character.

Because Dewey is a stand-in for Uncle Zachariah, who Ava is assuming is dead.

I could see the aspect of Echo unexpectedly retaining bits of her engagement being an interesting turn, especially since Liv is already self-aware. Also, Dollhouse is a perfect example of your word of caution re: genre shows. It turned out to be not too bad of a show but its second episode was a tv travesty called "The Target" aka The Most Dangerous Dushku.

I've taken to calling him Alabastard.

I think Wynn Duffy not making it out of this alive would shock me more than any other outcome. I can't shake the sense that, despite whatever craziness may happen in the end, the final shot of Wynn Duffy will be of him watching women's tennis (while DVR-ing mythbusters) from an RV overlooking a beach sunset. Seriously, Bear Grylls:The Wilderness::Wynn Duffy:The Criminal Underworld.

A.T.O.M. AUDIENCE TEDIUM ORIGINATOR… meh.

Wow, I never noticed what a cut-up Ray Palmer is until the entire wedding ceremony confirmed it for me. The uproarious laughter annoyed me until I fanwanked that Ray Palmer took a cue from "The Nanny" and never speaks in public without a phalanx of professional laughers in tow. Also, if Ray is a minister, then he is definitely a youth minister.

I agree with the "something new" part dohe, but I think for something new to be introduced, a new character would have to be introduced. I don't know whether your "why not" means "they should think about pursuing" or "they should have written things differently" but either way the structural reasons that Clive, Ravi, and Peyton wouldn't work likely just reinforces your "something new" point. I don't think Clive would be that far outside of the same old story given that Psych, the Mentalist, Bones, Castle, Fringe, Crossing Jordan, and likely others (Is Rizzoli and Isles slashfic robust enough to count?) have matched up consultants with their law enforcement counterparts. Also, right now it just wouldn't make sense because Clive only puts up with Liv's shenanigans because she is his meal ticket up the homicide totem pole. However, if, once Clive becomes less perplexed by Liv, the audiences notices chemistry naturally develops between the two characters, I wouldn't be surprised if the writers let it gradually develop. Developing something with Ravi at this point also wouldn't make sense for Liv. He is the one person she can trust with knowledge of her 'condition' and he is trying to cure her. Too much too soon in that department would muddy the waters with his intentions towards helping her. Does the possibility of a cure for Post-Life Fatigue Syndrome come with romantic strings? Until more people that Liv can trust find out about her penchant for prefrontal cortex, I expect Ravi to fill the Wallace Fennel role of a trusted confidant with his own romantic interests. Peyton and Liv have been close and lived together for a very long period of time. I think if something romantic were to develop between them it would have already happened before Peyton decided to become a judgmental jerk.

Environmental Engineer, so.... maybe cases could involve a surprising amount of soil sample analysis? Someone starts dumping Utopium into the water supply and there is only one hunk that knows the municipal water treatment infrastructure well enough to stop the imminent disaster?

I agree that his dialogue has been interesting, if recited with a mild case of Bledel-syndrome: on-paper funny dialogue recited by a character as though it is being Cyrano de Bergerac-ed in via an earpiece. IMO, I think people are reacting to the fact that so far (other than the flash he showed when throwing her out) the show has made Major the model of domestic happiness just out of reach by portraying him a a stock version of a supportive, approachable, and charming dude. However, I don't think he is destined to have the character depth of a block of wood with all the burrs sanded off. Rather, I think Major will be more fleshed out as Liv comes to realize that the whole "undead doesn't mean dead" thing will involve her 'old' life bleeding into her new one. Two episodes is not a lot of time to add depth to secondary characters, especially when juggling as many balls as this show has so far. The show had a world to establish, Liv's new world, and in order to do so the show treated her old, idealized life as window dressing. But that makes structural sense because, after Liv's less-than-pleasant lake cruise, she has left that idealized life on the shelf, treating it as though it is so fragile that by merely dusting it off she might break it. But I thought it was not only really smart to have that fight with Major at the end, bit promising for the future. It showed that they have both been hiding their true feelings for what they perceive as the well-being of someone they care about and capped it off with a VO about the selfishness of passion. Side Note: Well, he at least has a great name going for him: Major Lilywhite. Given that Rob Thomas is an Austin guy I figured, and later internet research confirms, that the character was named after the platonic ideal of Texas-ass quarterback names: Major Applewhite (followed closely by Clint McCoy). I will know whether Rob Thomas is too invested in UT football if Major loses Liv's affections to a romantic rival with a named derived from Chris Simms, only for Liv to realize that she can't trust Chris Schmimms in big moments and Major is there for her when it counts. Side-r Note: At first I felt bad that the inevitable Liv-Blaine shippers will have a lot to overcome... Blaine making Liv a Zombie and possibly creating a Zombie outbreak via dealing Utopium is an inauspicious start to a ship. Then I remembered it could be worse (see: Logan's Bum Fights).

Since its a procedural I'm assuming they disappear at the end of the episode/when she eats the next brain. If she kept some random skills along the way I think it could be fun but if she retained them all it might be a bit... Sylar-y? Actually, now that I think about it, Sylar was originally supposed to collect superhero powers on Heroes by eating their brains... I would go on but it is not good for my constitution to dwell on Heroes for too long. Anyway, given the playfulness of the scripts and Ravi's gee whiz attitude to the intricacies of zombiehood, I'd be surprised if they didn't explore the mechanics of her skill acquisition further. I also think there will be some fun episodes where they start to delve into the personality trait acquisition stuff further. For example, I am looking forward to an episode where she eats a mixture of multiple brains by accident.