Every show’s finale should include a Warren Zevon song. They used “Keep Me in Your Heart” from The Wind album during the finale of House, to good effect.
The retrospective was fun, in that it gave them a chance to showcase all the people behind the scenes. There was also an interesting conceit of a clown who popped up from time to time, though no one took any notice and it was never explained. Cast members past and present also had a chance to weigh in on the series. My favorite bit was the paintball battle between Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard at the end.
The episode itself was something of a surprise, though I didn’t know what to expect. Having Kutner show up that early set the tone, but we were mislead into thinking it would be only ghosts of the past, which was reinforced when Amber replaced Kutner. But after that it was his ex-wife (the always charming Sela Ward) and then Cameron. The one that got away and the one that he never managed to get. I was mostly willing to believe the autopsy report, but I felt the Huck Finn vibe going on, too. I kept looking at the congregation to see if he might have been there in disguise. Maybe he was.
His solution to his problem: how to avoid going to prison and missing out on Wilson’s remaining months, was the dominant through-line of the episode. His solution was radical but understandable, given his situation. He didn’t have a lot of choices. The so-called “bro-mance” has more or less defined the series from the beginning as much as the medical mystery part. The one sign that he was willing to change is the fact that he was willing to give up everything to spend those last few months with Wilson. Wilson underscored that there was no turning back from this—his medical career was over and he would go to prison for a long time if caught. He fiddled the dental records, and he is technically a fugitive from justice. Presumably he made sure he had access to funds before perpetuating this fraud on his co-workers.
Too bad Cuddy couldn’t or wouldn’t come back. I’m not sure what the politics of that situation were. Was she not invited or did she refuse the invitation? Lots of others from the past showed up, including Andre Braugher, Olivia Wilde and Amber Tamblyn. It was almost old home week.
A lot is made of the final episodes of long-running series. Few are truly satisfying, but I think this was just about as good as it gets. Everybody didn’t die. Life goes on, in one way or another. Cameron gets married and has a kid. Foreman gets a clue that House isn’t really dead. Chase ends up with House’s job. Taub seems to be happy with his family. And Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid rode off into the sunset.
It seemed strange to have a Christmas episode of Mad Men when the temperature is over 90° here, but I guess the contract negotiations and delay to the season launch messed them up a little. The scenes with Don and Joan were terrific: hearing Don admit that Joan terrified him and having him help build her confidence back up again after being served. The subplot with Paul Kinsey becoming a Hare Krishna writing spec scripts for Star Trek was priceless. And wasn’t Mother Lakshmi a piece of work. A leopard that never really changed her spots. Sounds like Lane was in trouble with Inland Revenue and now he’s in double trouble after embezzling money from the business—money he thought he was going to get anyway until the airline decided to suspend advertising due to a strike. Deep doo-doo.
