Last night brought some of the final season finales for broadcast TV, as three shows that had rather disappointing seasons finally drew to a close…
“Modern Family”…As has become the formula for Modern Family—-which borrows a lot more from 90’s sitcoms than we might realize—-last night’s episode mostly featured one character saying something and then get immediately contradicted (think of every successive line Nathan Lane spoke), along with the typical setbacks and misunderstandings. The wedding of Cam and Mitchell was more heavily invested in generic mishap comedy than genuine emotion, and it’s become obvious that Cam/Mitchell are more cartoon characters than people you could ever believe are in a relationship. There’s still something likable enough about Modern Family, but there’s no denying the show’s been running in place for a couple years now. Grade for season: C…Grade for season finale: C+
“Mixology”…A “limited run” series (i.e. serialized show that gets cancelled after one season) that followed ten people during one long night in a bar. I don’t know, critics and viewers alike pretty much hate this show, and I can easily see why, but I had an okay time with it, even though it’s obviously repetitive. Although I’m glad it won’t be coming back for another season, it was pretty gratifying to see Tom and Maya finally get together. Her rousing speech to him at the end, finally convincing him to ditch an abusive girlfriend was enough to put this over the top. Even if only two of the five couples actually got together, it was the only two I really cared about anyway. Grade for season: C+…Grade for series finale: B
“The Americans”…Loved the first season, felt let down by this one. Still, this finale may have been the best episode of the season, and it at least cleared away some of the brush pile of subplots that had grown stale (the “who gives a shit?” liaison between Stan’s Russian mistress and a KGB officer, Elizabeth and Phillip trying to protect the son of fallen comrades, the handling of one of their least interesting assets who died in a successful operation). The most interesting new development may be that the KGB wants Elizabeth and Phillip to let them recruit their daughter as part of a second-generation program of people who can pass a CIA or FBI background check. Even more so? Elizabeth may be okay with it, and Phillip is dead against it. Talk about a parenting dilemma. BUT nothing excuses how stagnant and morose this show got this year, so I’m hoping they add a few new “firecracker” characters for next season to at least keep the character dynamics fresh. Grade for season: C…Grade for season finale: B