Aqua

I don't think there's any evidence the "present" scenes were any year other than the year they were filmed, i.e., the finale occurred in 2019. Bruce died in 2024, five years later. This idea that the present scenes are actually future scenes stem from the fact that the characters started referring to the affair as having occurred "ten years ago" when it was really only five years ago. However that does not mean the intent was to place these scenes in the future. They fudged a lot of time issues in this show, for example in the premiere episode, Stacey was 6 ("How long til she goes to college?" asks Noah when her call for Helen upstairs disturbs them during sex. "12 years," replies Helen). However in the finale, Stacey is 12, not 16, which she would have been had ten years elapsed.

Downtown LA.

The only thing he put in his backpack was two water bottles which was pretty ridiculous after being all joe concerned about his precious photo albums and notebooks, etc. I would think he'd at least grab his laptop. But I guess the show runners wanted us to think that the combo of listening to his old self on the thumb drive and the news guy saying move or die or whatever , the only thing that mattered was his physical body and getting back to Helen. But he's smarter than that so I don't buy it.

Having never been married and had children and divorced, I can't say, but Helen made it sound like this is standard procedure. She was actually kind of womansplaining to Noah that this is the rule to split up the passports and brith certificates as if everyone knows this. I wonder if Treem made it up?

"The End" is the name of the bar in Montauk that Noah had been at the night Scotty was killed, for which he spent three years in prison despite the fact Helen was at the wheel. Which makes it more absurd that he would have kept the cap and actually taken it to California with him.

1) I know really! I loathe Whitney. 2) I saw that. Was that supposed to be Gun Guy on the Freeway?

Tesla.

Okay, so this whole episode is about Helen being stupid and taking the men’s side and Whitney learning all about #MeToo from Audrey and then educating her mom. If this is not the most annoying episode, I do not know what is. Whitney's allegation: Noah is stalking prey? So you're in the hot tub kissing some woman you don’t know and your dad is also in the hot tub looking to kiss a woman that he doesn’t know. So tell me please how are you any better than him?? Let’s make it clear that neither knew the other one was there. There is no stalking of prey. Both were there independently and happened to run into each other. Way to retcon, Treem, not buying it. And let’s not forget in the Uber, Whitney’s grossed out by the guy glancing at her cleavage, that’s why she buys a hoodie for the plane ride home. What a tired trope, not to mention complete bullshit. Maybe pull up your shirt (which she had obviously pulled down for some reason) so your bra’s not hanging out. Am I blaming women for being looked at? No, I am annoyed with false victimization of women and girls in the wake of #MeToo. Also, thanks for hammering in repeatedly if we didn’t get it the first time that Colin’s portrait of Whitney is supposed to show the face of a broken down #MeToo victim but sorry no, that is not what she is. She had absolute agency over the fact she chose to get involved with the dirtbag Furkat just as she chose to get into the hot tub in an orgy with a bunch of strangers. On to other things… Thanks, Priya for showing up, but where were you a few weeks ago when Sierra needed childcare help, or rather what were you thinking, writers, for not having someone say “Let’s phone Priya”? Eden makes the silly mistake of saying when she worked with Noah she had been “so young,” and two minutes later saying she had to throw away her career and years of accomplishments. Can’t have it both ways, Eden, and why no one shouted at the TV these two incongruent claims? Really don’t get the ending of the Helen segment where she takes a phone call and tells Sasha she needs his car and then they all show up at Whitney’s 30 seconds after Noah barges in. What led her to drive her kids through smoke for that meeting? What was the crisis? To hear Noah say it didn’t happen like the VF piece said? Makes no sense to me. But as I sit here watching this in 2021 seeing them driving through the smoke and I’m thinking “Hey where’d you get those N-95s??”

We learned this actually at the time he was in the rubber room, not just in this episode.

I don't think the character is supposed to be considered a famous hottie. It was always presented that she was a quirky, beyond her prime, but still in high demand actress.

Glad someone else is still watching! I gripe a lot about this show but I will miss it when it's gone. Not sure what to watch next.

I don't find Ben's ability to provide to the detectives fake medical reports for Joanie all that unbelievable. He lives in an analog world with paper records and as soon she walked out the door he could quickly create a folder with some notes and edit that tape so it's ready to play in case Joanie came back with the cops which she implied she would do. I think he could assemble all his backup material in a few hours. What I did find unbelievable is that Joanie would turn and walk out the door knowing a gun is on the desk and she could be shot in the back. I think the more logical choice is grab the gun and the recorder and run out the door. But I guess we are supposed to believe that Joanie really wants to be killed as evidenced by her "Harder" requests as Ben is later choking her. Sorry, I'm not buying it. It is actually pretty easy to kill oneself and if Joanie really wanted to do this, she would have done it long ago. It makes more logical sense that she would leave with the cops rather than try and reason with Ben after he's proven himself to be a pathological and occasionally psychotic liar. I also think it's interesting that while Ben claims he killed her, he also describes it as an accident whereby he would not even legally held responsible, as the way he describes it, she fell into a bookshelf and was struck by a statue. As an attorney I'm pretty sure in a court of law, if those facts were believed it should survive a motion for acquittal on that charge. Throwing her body in the ocean would be a separate charge, unlawful disposal of a corpse or something similar if a jury believed he thought she was already dead when he did it. I think someone mentioned Joanie took a huge chance by agreeing to the EMDS or whatever. I saw it as she faked the therapy. She's a scientist and fought against the trance.

MeToo is nothing new. This type of behavior was not accepted in the late seventies. I know, I was there, and it was just as much fight back, "EWWW," "Expose this fucker" as there is now. The idea that MeToo is a 2020s invention is hopelessly ahistoric and inaccurate.

Most people I know use scribble for a signature so you can't really tell. I do, anyway.

Helen did tell Whitney this when she was visiting her in L.A., and Whitney behaved as if it were a personal inconvenience to her. This was back in last season I believe or early this season.

The first half hour was unbearable due to Joanie's hateful behavior. She only got nice after she looked at the moon. Regarding the flat tires on the bicycle. She should never have been able to get to the cemetery on that bike. My tires are flat after not riding my bike for nine months. We're supposed to believe there would be air in them after 30 years?? Not to mention the chain and everything rusted out, etc. It would be completely unusable. I'm quite sure Joanie and her family live in Texas. I guess we are supposed to assume Joanie used some futuristic air travel that gets you from Texas to New York within an hour. But odd they never showed us this, instead we saw only the high tech local Montauk train. Unlike most on here, I like the EJ character. He's the first person on the show in a while that seems genuine and not hate-worthy. I think he's quirky but not creepy. I supposed it's possible he is setting up to to be Sierra's son, but his living in Montauk is quite a coincidence, and considering mom and grandma's money, you'd think he'd have a better car.

There's less activity. The first few seasons there were 5 and 6 pages of comments and now there's only two. Less interest, methinks.

I was quite sure by the way Sierra was driving (trying to fishtail the car) that she was attempting to crash it in a way that would kill the baby.

Yeah I agree!!

As I recall he was the head of the department at the hospital too so maybe much more.

I find it odd there was so much fanfare about Ruth Wilson leaving but nothing about the Cole character disappearing. Was this a surprise?

They gave the French lady a POV and she was never seen again. I'm not a fan of the Janelle/Carl/Anton storyline. It feels Forced Woke to me.

This I don't get, because from what I saw Sasha is way more at the top of his career (insane house, chauffeur) than Noah has ever been. In Celebrity World, he's playing under his rank.

I think it was at her home. If she was at work, she wouldn't have been able to override it.

Ben is a military man and with military precision to detail would likely have cleaned up the blood and staged the apartment in the most innocent light after returning from the jetty. Also, Detective Jeffries is not the brightest bulb in the closet, as he spent years investigating Scotty's death and still fingered the wrong person. Noah could have clarified that Alison was his ex-wife rather than have ex-college friend think he’s a psycho for casually attending a Princeton college tour days after her death. Probably sloppy writing. Helen's throwing her purse directly at Sierra’s stomach looked like an attempt, though half-assed, to abort the fetus. Cole running with the urn Jeff Probst-style was funny, and not in a good way that served the show well. Mare Winningham is an amazing actress. Her scene at the graveyard was stupendous. Hope she returns. Cole just got back from his walkabout 3 days ago, not even unpacked, and now he’s going on another roadtrip, this time with Joanie? Does this guy even work? Luisa doesn’t even comment that he just returned? Again, seems like sloppy writing to me. Very weird creepy thing with Joanie seeming to not be at all sad her mother is dead. She is old enough to know what it means. I was and am underwhelmed by Anton’s supposed brilliance. His Princeton writing exercise was one of the most pedestrian college essays I’ve ever heard, not to mention disrespectful to his mother. I hope he's not back for Season 5, as I can't take much more of him, or the loathsome Whitney. But the most offensive part of the episode to me were Sierra’s hideous ‘70s-esque gaucho pants. Explain, please how these are flattering on anyone?