SPOILER WARNING - This post contains spoilers for the TV series only, because they're breaking from the comic books (as far as I know - I'm like a month behind on that...sorry)
Holy! Macaroni! (get it??? macaroni?? Because Aaron's last meal was some shitty off-brand mac and cheese!)
I really hope the makers of 'Preacher', a show I can't help but constantly (unfavorably) compare with 'Outcast', were watching because that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you do a season finale! It was pretty damn close to perfect, and I absolutely loved it. And really, it was a damn fine way to close out what has been a great inaugural season for this show.
Throughout the season, there have been various threads that were somewhat related, but never really tied much into one another. Despite the fact that they weren't overtly connected, it never felt like they had nothing to do with one another, because they were clearly all part of the same weird shit that was going on all over Rome. But "This Little Light" brought every major character and every major plotline into swift and sudden contact with a very fluid and organic feel. Ogden's weirdness led into his allegiance to post-possession Kat, which led into conflict with Kyle and Anderson by virtue of them taking in post-Megan to help her usher in whatever entity was living in her. Aaron kidnaps Amber and brings her to Sidney, Kat and Ogden, Giles and his wife help deal with the more practical elements in the aftermath of Mark's death. Everything tied together so neatly, and not in a way that felt remotely forced.
The story itself was wonderfully constructed, but it was also well executed, too. The climactic showdown was tense and thrilling, with no one (except Kyle, but we'll get back to this in a moment) feeling particularly safe from death. Adding a time element helped ratched up the tension, too, since Sidney established that once a demon has been in control of a body for a certain amount of time, exorcising it destroys part of the human soul. Megan essentially spent the entire episode as a ticking time bomb of sorts, and saving her in time became just as important as saving her at all.
The story itself was wonderfully constructed, but it was also well executed, too. The climactic showdown was tense and thrilling, with no one (except Kyle, but we'll get back to this in a moment) feeling particularly safe from death. Adding a time element helped ratched up the tension, too, since Sidney established that once a demon has been in control of a body for a certain amount of time, exorcising it destroys part of the human soul. Megan essentially spent the entire episode as a ticking time bomb of sorts, and saving her in time became just as important as saving her at all.
 |
| Hard to see given how dark it is, but this one looks different to me |
I also want to take a moment to throw the spotlight on little Amber Barnes, played by Madeleine McGraw. Aside from being totally adorable, she's a great actress, playing a wide range of natural emotions, in an endearing yet strong way. And the revelation that she has the same "superpower" as Kyle can only serve to complicate and endanger the pair of them. It was a great twist.
And so was Anderson accidentally killing Aaron (or so we assume). I don't think anyone actually thought he succeeded in burning Sidney to death inside his trailer, so that twist did feel a bit telegraphed. Especially since we saw Aaron hanging around in there uninvited multiple times over the last three episodes. But what does make this development interesting is that, as an audience...does anyone really care that Aaron is dead? No, that kid was an asshole*... what we really care about is how Anderson is going to carry this. Patricia may indeed never find out what happened to Aaron, because once Giles tells her (not seen last night, and I'm assuming will be broached next season) that Aaron was wanted for kidnapping, she and everyone else might just assume he split town. So really, all we're left with is how Anderson is going to feel about unintentionally murdering someone who was evil, but not the evil he was aiming for. Will the guilt force him to confess, will it bother him at all? Will he feel like Aaron had it coming anyway? (He did.)
Despite the many answers from the season finale, we've still got a lot of questions leading into next season:
Why do they keep calling Kyle "outcast"? What does it mean? What are they trying to suck out of him?
What are they? What do they want? What are they planning?
What is Sidney, really?
Where are Kat and Ogden?
How is Anderson going to deal with Aaron's death? How is Megan going to deal with Mark's death?
Is Amber exactly the same as Kyle? Is she "outcast", too? And if she has the same power as him, does that make one of them expendable? Is Kyle, the character, safe from death? Is Amber?
Overall, I feel like this season finale was just the right amount of satisfying. The immediate threat was dealt with, but the bigger danger still looms. Some mysteries have been solved, and others remain. It's enough to make the wait for next year just the right amount of unbearable. We don't feel cheated out of a cathartic ending, and we're still compelled to return next year to see what Kirkman, Kyle and Co. have in store for us and for the poor, hapless sonsabitches of Rome, West Virginia.
I'm willing to bet, though, that it'll be pretty damn good!
EPISODE FINAL SCORE - 9.5/10
SEASON ONE FINAL SCORE - 9/10
Cinemax has already renewed 'Outcast' for season two, so I'll be back with more reviews next year! woot woot!
No comments:
Post a Comment