I thought the last season was quite good overall. The writing was still solid, and the acting was as good as ever (just fantastic throughout the whole show). I agree that it felt like they were trying to cram as much resolution as they could into the final few episodes, but that's just how final seasons go, and I thought they did better than most. I think it was one of the smartest and best-written shows I've seen in a long time.
piraterepublic wrote:the final season was 6+ish/10
the pushed some woke things that deb would NEVER have said
there was some painfully ridiculous plots and sub plots happen .
I think this was just a standard story arc. The whole basis of the show was the odd-couple theme - an older, savvy-yet out-of-touch comedian teams up with a young, progressive, funny-but-painfully-awkward writer. The story structure demanded for them to learn from each other. Deborah was probably progressive in her time, but had some bigoted beliefs and didn't know how to communicate in the modern world. She grew as a person because of the influence of Ava. And Ava grew because of Deborah's influence as well - learning how to navigate the world of show business and asserting herself. Complaining that Deb said some things she would never have said is missing the point - yes, she wouldn't have said those in the first season, but she became a better person due to the influence of Ava. This is standard story structure. It was one of the ways the writers tried to tie everything up in the final season. It would have felt incomplete if she didn't grow in 5 seasons.
piraterepublic wrote:the entire manager sub plot was just beyond stupid and a fairy tale ending for them.
(who wanted the kayla character written or acted like that??? it seriously
damaged the flow, vibe and all feeling in the show when she was on screen).
Again I think you're missing the whole odd-couple story arc. Kayla was the opposite of the manager guy (can't remember his name). He was very competent but lacked confidence, she was hyper-confident but basically useless. Then they grew together - She found her niche with his help and became a force in the industry, and he made moves he would have never made without her by his side. They succeeded together because they were so different and learned from each other. Then the lesbian orthodox Jew was somehow the opposite of both of them, and they became an odd-thruple. I wasn't sold on her at the beginning but she crushed it just like the rest of them. I thought Kayla was a delight to watch. Every scene, so funny, so comfortable in literally every situation, so confident no matter what. She was a perfect inverse of Manager Man. And the times where she showed real vulnerability the acting was perfect. She was a well-developed and beautifully-acted character. I'll be watching for that actor in future shows.
And this is the whole point of the in-universe tv show that Ava starts in the final season - it's an odd-couple tv sitcom! It's a mirror reflecting another mirror. It's a fractal of the show that we're watching. They explicitly tell us the whole point of the show when describing Ava's show.
Like I said, I think this show really had top-notch writers and actors. Yes, the final few episodes felt rushed, it felt like they were pushing too much. But that's how it goes! Many shows start a season not knowing whether they'll get renewed, and find out they have to wrap it up part-way through. I think in my ideal world shows wouldn't resolve anything in the final season, they would just end, leaving me feeling like the characters are continuing on somewhere out there. But most people seem to want stories to resolve so they did what they had to do.
This show stays on my list.
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