S04.E20: Final Boarding

[Thalia]

On 6/14/2023 at 1:31 AM, shapeshifter said:

And now I’m wondering if the best way to watch the series is to just watch the first episode and the last.  
Almost kidding.😉

As I'm retired (and unlike Grandpa Stone, I don't have to get a job at a grocery store to pay attorneys) I spent the last two weeks watching the whole thing.  I had missed a bunch of episodes along the way and the finale intrigued me enough that I wanted to see who these people were.  

I liked the show, and with a few exceptions, I liked the characters.  A major exception was Angelina.  I understand that the actress was quite good in The Americans, but she worked my last nerve on this show.  It strains credulity, IMHO, to believe she was charismatic to attract followers, sapphire or no sapphire.   Particularly in season 4, I started fast forwarding through most of her scenes.   In comparison, Adrian was interesting enough to believe he'd attract people to HIS cult.  

As for the finale, the things that bothered me most have been talked about here, namely: 

1.  Ben's lack of concern over the loss of Eden really bothered me.   What if he's wrong and an Eden clone doesn't pop up in 9 months?  

2.  Likewise, the woman who gave birth in the detention center -- why wasn't she screaming in agony over the loss of her baby?

3.  Okay, 10 year old Olive isn't the teenaged Olive that TJ loved.  But we see a tinge of regret, and then watch him give the Tex Avery eye pop/wolf whistle to Violet.  It didn't seem right. 

4.  Speaking of Violet.  She didn't seem to have any memory of what happened.  Or if she did, she seemed kind of chill about having kissed a ten year old and then being murdered.  What about the other 828ers who died during the first go around?   The man with the glasses who was murdered in season 1 or 2 was crying and hugging his wife like he remembered what had happened.  The woman who died in the first or second episode --- her husband turned out to be scummy, but she wouldn't necessarily know that.

5.  Ben, Mick, and Co. also saved some people who weren't on 828, like Zeke's father.  Will he commit suicide in this timeline? 

On 6/7/2023 at 8:31 AM, CCTC said:

The show was good at using its history and getting early season guest stars to return and become recurring characters.  By the time the series wrapped up you cared about more of the passengers than just the main characters when the reunited with their family members at the end.  

I agree -- this was the best thing about the show and why I found some value in watching it again after seeing the finale.  My memories HAD faded, and even though I haven't been near an airport since early April.  Some of the faces were familiar 

 

On 6/7/2023 at 8:31 AM, CCTC said:

Even though she was not a passenger, I would not have minded Director Zimmer making one last appearance just to turn into ash. 

Or at least have her be proven wrong in a way that she knew it.  She was the type of character that cries out for some kind of comeuppance.  

 

On 6/7/2023 at 1:27 PM, Biggie B said:

Also - how old are the surviving passengers now? Are they the age they were in 2013, or their 2024 ages

I wondered about this too.

I assume the passengers will be rounded up sooner rather than later so that Vance and Co. can discuss the disappearances of the Eleven.  Who knows what will happen when they all try to come up with plausible lies and/or tell the truth.   OTOH, they will have plenty of money once they pool some cash and bet on the next five or 10 Super Bowls and and World Series games. 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Thalia

[Cabarb]

So the 828’ers will remember everything from the last 5 years but the families will have no lost time and the plane landed on the original timeline. But Zeke couldn’t talk to Mick because it would impact her life choices. But a couple hundred people reliving the last 5 years knowing what they know won’t affect anyone’s future at all. 🙄

[Paloma]

Like most posters here, I was overall satisfied with the finale even though I struggled to get through the last few episodes. It's increasingly rare to get answers and closure in TV and streaming series, so I appreciated that the writers were able to do that.

I generally don't like plotlines that are overtly religious or mumbo-jumbo symbolic, so I was annoyed as the show increasingly got into those aspects. But I did like the idea of the passengers who deserved it being given a second chance. I think the passengers were in limbo (I guess that would be purgatory in religious terms) for the entire show except for the very beginning pre-flight. But instead of going to heaven, they were returned to their loved ones and given a second chance at a normal life--which could be thought of as the equivalent of heaven after the misery they went through.

On 7/3/2023 at 6:15 PM, Cabarb said:

So the 828’ers will remember everything from the last 5 years but the families will have no lost time and the plane landed on the original timeline. But Zeke couldn’t talk to Mick because it would impact her life choices. But a couple hundred people reliving the last 5 years knowing what they know won’t affect anyone’s future at all. 🙄

Even if all the 828ers remember everything from the last 5 years, it won't necessarily affect their future or the future of others because (IMHO) what happened in those 5 years was an alternate reality. It's what happened to them and others in a reality where they came back after 5 years, were hated and detained, lost some loved ones and gained other new loved ones (romantic partners or children), and had other significant and traumatic events. But now that they have been returned to the original timeline/reality, their lives will play out in different ways. In some cases they may end up with the romantic partners or children that they had in the alternate reality, but even if they do those people and relationships will not be exactly the same because they will be affected by different experiences in the current reality. In other words, the future that they will have going forward from the finale will be different from the 5 years they experienced in the show, so knowing about the future from the alternate reality will not make much difference in how things unfold, EXCEPT:

I think the main lesson the passengers took from this was to try to be better human beings and to know that they can overcome challenges if they keep connected to the good people in their lives. Remembering what they went through in limbo, or the alternate reality, will help them put this lesson into practice.

[Thalia]

some future events will happen, at least things like the winners of the Presidential elections and World Series game.  although I suppose I don't know for sure who won those things in the original timeline.   Bethany seemed pretty happy to see President Obama so she probably didn't like the guy who took his place.  I know we're supposed to think that the survivors will go on being good after the experience, but would be hard for some of them not to start placing a few bets on future events to try and get some extra cash.  

I certainly hope that bad things that they saw happen will NOT happen in the New Normal.  TJ's mom will have no reason to commit suicide.  (I hope).  Michaela and Ben will aggressively force her mom to go to doctor's appointments and catch the cancer early.   Steve won't try to work himself into an empty grave to help his kids.   Without an Angelina, Grace won't be murdered in her home.  

Will Michaela and Ben feel compelled to try and stop some non-928 crimes, like the armored truck robbery, the meth ring, the little girls who were kidnapped in the first episode.

I can honestly see if they truly wanted to reboot the show the combinations of the rumors spread by family members about what there loved ones said who got off that plane, the Missing 11 and all the little piles of dust, and future behavior that 828rs may not be able to help will soon lead to another freakout.  

I agree that it will be almost impossible for some of them to have the children who were born since they left, and that includes Ben, Grace, and Eden.  Maybe the best thing to do is just accept that the characters aren't worried about any of this and to move on with them.  

[catherinejane]

Overall i enjoyed it.

the ending was sweet - the stuff on the plane was "shlocky"/cheesy but i was happy that Adrian and Eagan mananged to "fix themselves"

And Sanvi and Ben finally getting it on - i mean it was all due to the sitatuon but for a last night on earth type of thing, it was okay.

I assume TJ and Olive got it on that final night but luckily it was not discussed. (i still have no idea how old she was supposed to be at the end? or him?)

Only bit i didn't like was the lady with a baby not being at all fussed that her baby was gone - not even a - "I'd best find that Jantor and get knocked up" statement showing she knows it will all work out.

And i was also happy for Michela, making her decision about her finance and being okay - and then remembebing Zeke was in the taxi - great callback to a few episodes ago. I assume she didn't want kids but it was never actually stated on the show (that i can recall) which would make much more sense of the "i love you but we don't want the same things"

I am glad i only started on it all this year. rather than do it all over 4-5 years. It made it better. (i think i saw rave reviews for the leftovers and confused that with this)