It’s not going to be an epic farewell of the M*A*S*H like quality, but no show gets to go out like that anymore. Truth be told, M*A*S*H didn’t really go out that well either. The show had been declining for years, but what it did do was go out with the style and panache it came in with. A gritty realism under the veneer of a comedy. Some people were happy, some were sad, you were sad it was over, but also relieved of a burden. It was a good, honest to it’s roots ending.
Everwood, which ended last night, went out like a night-time soap/drama should. It went with happy endings. It went for the schmaltz and it went for the glory that it was: a teen-drama.
I loved the show for it’s purple-haired, heart-breaking Ephram, who had his piano perfect like thrown around by the car crash that killed his mother and spun his father, Andy, into trying to be a better man. I loved his sister Delia, who in her baseball cap wearing, overly intelligent, trying to figure out who she was way, reminded me of me. I loved Fiesty Nurse Enda, her husband Irv, her son Harold. I adored Harold’s wife and his son, though the daughter I could give or take.
But the show kept itself angstful and silly, while addressing medical emergencies of the week and occasionally getting them wrong. The interplay between Harold and Andy always prompted me to tell them ‘Shut up, boyfriends!’ Certainly the show had problems, but I generally enjoyed it.
What they did right
• Andy admitted he used to get up 10 minutes early to bogart Harold’s parking spot.
• Harold told Edna he needed her.
• Edna admitted, though not verbally, that she was getting old and couldn’t just run off into the woods anymore.
• Andy finally proposed to Nita.
• Nita accepted the proposal!
• Ephram and Amy confessed to the love they’ve always had.
• Jake left the mother fucking show.
• Hannah chose Bright (awwww!).
• Bright grew up into a man and not a fratboy.
• Delia’s Bat Mitzvah.
• Ephram’s double take at the Ferris wheel outside his apartment.
• Andy finally got Delia that fucking horse.
What they did wrong
• Not letting us hear Delia chant Torah (unless the actor was crappy, at which point okay, I’ll let it pass).
• Not bringing back Colin’s sister. I miss her.
• The dropped threads (see below).
• IRV died! Okay, I saw it coming, and I knew it was gonna happen, but *sniffle* I loved him!
What they left hanging
I preface this with knowing they’d already written and started filming the season finale, when they were told it was a series finale, so things got dropped.
• Tomorrow – Seriously, I would have liked a photo montage at the end, showing how everyone moves on. If you’re going for the happy ending, go the whole nine-yards. Give us a photo album montage of Harold and Rose adopting Lilly, formally. Of the Brown/Feeny marriage. Of Bright and Hannah! Of Ephram and Amy! Does Ephram find a balance between his music and his love? Does Hannah put out- I mean marry Bright? I wanted to see these things wrapped up.
• Jake – I don’t like him, never have, but seeing him move on and be happy would have been nice.
• Stephanie – Ephram’s new (and now ex) girl needed some closure. I spent the last moments yelling at him to call Stephanie.
All in all, I enjoyed the ending, and I’m glad they gave it happiness for the two primary couples. I liked the wrap up enough that I’m content with the end of the show. They gave me closure, and that’s how a show needs to go out.
Everwood – you will be missed.