S05.E18: Just Say Yes / S05.E19: Many Roads

[Lady Calypso]

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In the 100th episode, Brandon and Grace go on a road trip and discover a lot about each other, while Mariana and Emma vie for a competitive internship. Stef and Lena go on a couples retreat to reconnect.

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In the spring finale, it’s graduation day for Callie and Brandon, but after some shocking news, the family wonders whether they will make it to the ceremony.

[Scarlett45]

I missed half the double episode (the middle half) but no Mike?!! What about AJ?!! They are valuable members of this extended family and I wanted to see them. 

 

As much as I am looking forward to the series finale event in June I am not looking forward to Callie being jealous that Brandon is getting married. He’s your BROTHER. Quit it!

Edited March 14, 2018 by Scarlett45

[KaveDweller]

21 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I missed half the double episode (the middle half) but no Mike?!! What about AJ?!! They are valuable members of this extended family and I wanted to see them. 

 

As much as I am looking forward to the series finale event in June I am not looking forward to Callie being jealous that Brandon is getting married. He’s your BROTHER. Quit it!

 

Mike was at the graduation with Anna and her baby. It is weird they didn't show AJ though. Maybe the actor wasn't available?

I really liked the flash forward graduation scene, even though I've never seen schools announce everyone's college plans like that. It was nice to see what everyone ended up doing, and I laughed at them showing Mariana go back to Matt. But then they had to ruin it with Callie's reaction to Brandon getting engaged. Ugh.

How did Brandon get into this music school so quickly, so last minute, and what happened to having to wait a year to apply to any school?

Why couldn't Callie just apply to the school with an undeclared major and then transfer into the law program? Maybe it would take her six years, but that is still faster than most law degrees. Or she could have just gone to regular law school. 

Edited March 14, 2018 by KaveDweller

[ShortyMac]

We did see Mike, but not AJ. I wish we would have and I don't get why he wasn't included because we really knew him and he was Mike's foster son. He was a senior at Anchor Beach, too. We didn't see Wyatt for a few seasons.

Wyatt finally has a last name, Casey. 

The flash forwards were cool. Did you guys catch Jude's emo look? lol

So, Mariana got into MIT after all, and so did Emma. Mariana and Mat are together.

Not looking forward to the Brallie drama over Brandon's wedding.

[Scarlett45]

5 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I really liked the flash forward graduation scene, even though I've never seen schools announce everyone's college plans like that. It was nice to see what everyone ended up doing, and I laughed at them showing Mariana go back to Matt. But then they had to ruin it with her reaction to Brandon getting engaged. Ugh.

I went to a small private prep school and they did that for us. 

 

Why was Mariana being excited for Brandon getting engaged a bad thing? He’s 22/23 at that point, and while that’s young he was an adult. 

3 minutes ago, ShortyMac said:

We did see Mike, but not AJ. I wish we would have and I don't get why he wasn't included because we really knew him and he was Mike's foster son. He was a senior at Anchor Beach, too. We didn't see Wyatt for a few seasons.

Thank you. I will re-watch but I would’ve liked to see AJ and show him in the flash forward. I like to pretend that his brother did get out of prison, made good and understood how much Mike meant to AJ. 

[possibilities]

If Stef told IA about her lie, would that get Mike into trouble, too?

[Gulftastic]

More Brallie bullshit. Why, show? WHY?

Also, iit's surprising that a show so supportive of LGBT appears to have indulged in shameless queerbaiting withXimenna and Callie.

[Lady Calypso]

So, I missed most of the first hour, and then watched the second hour online, but I got the gist of most of the first hour (plus, I happened to catch most of the important Stef moments). 

I'm not so sure I like the idea of flashforwards, but I do think they did well with them. I did laugh at Jude's emo look for Mariana/Emma/Jesus' graduations. It kind of showcased where he was already heading anyway, though I'd actually love to know how he got to that point. 

I guess, for a practical series finale, it was alright. I'm counting the three episodes in the summer more like a TV special, rather than actual episodes, but that's just me. 

Yeah, I'm just gonna ignore whatever it was they did with the Brandon getting engaged moment and Callie looking crestfallen. I have to assume they're not going to hook up the two legal siblings. Literally, they're legally siblings now. It's gross. 

I did note that Brandon's fiancee looks a lot like Talya. 

I figured that Grace would die, but goddamnit if they didn't get me emotional with Brandon's singing as she died. David Lambert has really grown as an actor. Either that, or his material is just better than the earlier seasons. 

As for the flashforwards, I am surprised that Jesus and Emma seem to still be together. I would have been fine if they hadn't been. No surprise, though, on the Mariana/Mat front. I expected nothing less. Though her picking Wyatt and them actually staying together for at least a year was a total surprise. 

9 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I went to a small private prep school and they did that for us. 

I went to a Canadian arts high school, and they also announced college/university plans. Granted, we also had our graduation in October, because it allowed anyone that needed to do courses in the summer, to also graduate. 

[Glade]

It is really too bad that AJ's actor wasn't even there for the graduation sequence, with Mike/Ana cheering him on--I hope he'll show up in the 3-part finale so we at least know what became of him.  Anyway, the ending was sad--and so was Brandon's hair in the flash-forward (though not as sad as Jesus' beard.)  Jude's solo scenes with his friends/boyfriend were poorly acted, as usual.   I don't really get the last minute introduction of Brandon's Talia-esque fiance, but we'll see in June. 

[ShortyMac]

I also went back and watched and didn't notice that Stef wore a wire and got Det. Gray's admittance of letting Molloy off. And Stef said, "It's time for a career change," so, she did take it to IA and came clean about her false testimony regarding the shooting in 1A (feels like forever ago). I wonder if Stef's new job will be referenced in the finale episodes/spin-off?

[KaveDweller]

20 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Why was Mariana being excited for Brandon getting engaged a bad thing? He’s 22/23 at that point, and while that’s young he was an adult. 

Oh, oops, I meant Callie's reaction to Brandon getting engaged.

[Perfect Xero]

22 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Why was Mariana being excited for Brandon getting engaged a bad thing? He’s 22/23 at that point, and while that’s young he was an adult.

I did think it was classic selfish Mariana. It was Brandon and Eliza's announcement to make, not hers. Mike wasn't there, and they were supposed to be celebrating Jude and his accomplishment, but Mariana just couldn't wait to tell everyone that she'd helped him pick out the ring.

[Scarlett45]

Just now, Perfect Xero said:

I did think it was classic selfish Mariana. It was Brandon and Eliza's announcement to make, not hers. Mike wasn't there, and they were supposed to be celebrating Jude and his accomplishment, but Mariana just couldn't wait to tell everyone that she'd helped him pick out the ring.

Oh I see where you’re coming from. 

[Lady Calypso]

5 minutes ago, Perfect Xero said:

I did think it was classic selfish Mariana. It was Brandon and Eliza's announcement to make, not hers. Mike wasn't there, and they were supposed to be celebrating Jude and his accomplishment, but Mariana just couldn't wait to tell everyone that she'd helped him pick out the ring.

It's nice to see my worst fears are confirmed: Mariana, in fact, never learns to stay out of other people's businesses.

[marinaalexis]

Wow, I really did not see that ending coming. I usually don't like those corny flashforward things, but this one was actually pretty well done. It was strangely sweet to see how everyone grew up.

I was happy to find out that Emma got the internship and Mariana didn't. Sure, Mariana might not have meant to steal Emma's idea, but a good friend would have backed off immediately and chosen a different idea instead of copping a big attitude about it. But of course they both ended up getting into MIT - I strangely wasn't annoyed. At that point, I think I was just completely expecting a happily-ever-after that it didn't surprise me.

I was 100% expecting Grace to die, but still...god that final scene with Brandon singing hurt. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the actor pulled off the grief. I really felt for him. And as for Callie's expression in the last scene, I'm really just going to tell myself that she was just surprised and a little self-conscious to see her brother getting engaged while she's been single for so long, as someone else said. No more Callie/Brandon, please. That ship sailed a long time ago and really shouldn't have ever been a thing to begin with. Please don't bring it back for the spinoff.

And that said...I figured the spinoff would take place the summer after Callie and Brandon's graduation, but after that ending, is it - and the three final episodes - going to take place that far in the future now? Not sure how I feel about that. 

[paulvdb]

The spinoff was announced as taking place several years in the future.

[marinaalexis]

9 hours ago, paulvdb said:

The spinoff was announced as taking place several years in the future.

I hadn't seen that.

I suppose that makes more sense considering it seems like Callie, Mariana, and whoever the third cast member is will be completely independent.

[tennisgurl]

I knew Grace was doomed, but her death was still really sad, especially Brandon imagining them singing together in the concert. I would scared that we would be some Bralie bullshit before the end, and I was happy they went with platonic hugging...until the end. Oy, will this never end?!?

I also enjoyed the flash forwards, and Lena echoing some lines from the theme music in her speech. Also, LOL at Jude`s emo Luke, and Mariana switching up boyfriends. I did really wish that AJ had been there. I guess the actor wasn't available, but him not being there felt really weird. Still, I liked how they played the graduation, even though its super weird to hear that schools list the college that the student is going to during graduation, both in the show, and in real life. My school certainly wouldn't have done that, unless they wanted a lot of "such and such will be adding more shifts to her rotation at Walmart" or "So and So will be working on his family's farm like every other person in his family" mixed with colleges, jobs, and military. I clearly didn't go to an Anchor Beach :) 

It seemed like a lot of the plots were rather rushed, and I still wish the kids had gotten to interact more with each other this season. I know that they had a lot to fit in in two episodes, but it seemed like only two members of the family noticed that Brandon's girlfriend was dying/dead. With everyone in their own subplots that only sometimes mix, it can make the family connections kind of weak. 

I still would prefer Callie to hook up with Xio instead of Brandon. They have better chemistry, and they arent related. I mean, yeah adopted, but they're still brother and sister by all definitions, including calling the same people Moms and the same people brother and sister and the whole thing. Its super weird. I know the adopted sibling thing is a grey area in shipping, but...

[Bobcatkitten]

I just can't get over how everyone ignored the fact that Marian did indeed steal the idea for the maze robot. That is all. The rest was meh. 

[possibilities]

They mentioned Jude's friend Taylor graduating, so that made the AJ omission even more noticeable.

[dmmetler]

I was glad that they had Jesus heading to the local community college. Too often tV shows either send everyone to some ultra elite college or to whatever local school lets them keep the cast together. Given Jesus’s academic struggles even before the TBI, it makes sense that he would likely need the additional support that a community college offers (and that he might be looking more at vocational programs rather than a traditional degree path).

 

AJ should have been there. 

[LisaM]

Finally was able to see the finale and loved it. Particularly loved seeing the callbacks to earlier episodes - Jude's nail polish, Callie's mama sandwich after the adoption in particular and, of course, to the call from Bill at the end. Loved Lena's speech at graduation. I also liked how they brought back practically everyone of importance throughout the series - even Talia. I missed hearing what happened to AJ and to Lexi but I think they covered everyone else. Surprised that none of the grandparents made it to graduation but that was likely a function of guest star availability and cost. 

Loved that Callie got into the law program, that Emma and Mariana both went to MIT together, that Jude went to UCLA (and that Donald was at graduation) and that Jesus made it to college. Didn't see Noah at Jude's graduation. Was he there or did they break up by then? Also pleased that Aaron chose the other girl over Callie; I'd prefer Callie to start fresh with someone else. 

I know that there are 3 more episodes in the summer but this was a terrific ending to the main part of the series. 

[alexvillage]

Just watched this now and I think I will be the dissenter here. I liked some of the things in this episode, even with the infinite use of platitudes, but some things really bothered me.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the flash forward montage. I liked that they showed Wyatt and Taylor but a big fail that they didn't even mentioned AJ.  The writers could have come up with something, like AJ has a very bad cold and is highly contagious, mention his name and that's it. More believable than pretending he never existed and wasn't a big part of the story.

HATED Lena's speech. Selfish and self-serving. Graduations are about the students, their journey, their future. She made it all about herself.

Terrible idea, mentioning colleges. Very dismissive of students that are not going to college because of finances, or who were not accepted to any school. Some might decide to skip. Again, writers fail. Could have written in that one of the students is taking a gap year and waiting to apply, or decided to be an full time artist, or the many other options, if they wanted to keep everything so rosy. I also doubt any school has a 100% college acceptance rate.

ICE story: bullshit. It would never happen like that. Callie would not be the one receiving the news, and would not have been friendly. Besides, the writers played the "both sides" card. Too much for me to suspend disbelief.

The cliches: Marianna goes to MIT so *obviously* she needs to look "intellectual", with the bun AND glasses. I know, she wore glasses before but her presentation in the flash forward was so not Marianna. On the other hand, her attitude was all her.

That tree house being built in one/two days, with railing, glass windows and two (?) stories? Really? And I think only because the writers wanted the twins to have that conversation up there. They could have shown it not finished though.

 

Editing: I thought the Grace story was well done. The actor reminds so much of Jennifer Lawrence, I wonder if someone else sees it too.

Edited July 8, 2018 by alexvillage