I can't believe how blessed we are with this show honestly. I mean can you believe what is going on here? Can you believe how perfect this finale was?
Cons:
No! No complaints! I mean, I suppose that if this ends up being the final season (which it probably won't be) I would have complaints, because there are a lot of loose ends. But in some ways that's another plus, because they didn't try and do that dumb thing where they try and close all the doors just in case there's no more show, so the next season then feels like some weird extra epilogue... this finale elevates the show in a new way, and it makes me all the more excited for whatever they come up with next.
Pros:
Before I get in to the two plots, I'll just say I loved how this episode referenced tons of previous songs by dropping their titles in as dialogue. That was a neat way to make this feel like a finale and really tie it together with all of the various themes over the years of this show. As we'll see in Rebecca's plot, there was a lot of reckoning with past behavior going on here, and mentioning the song names really helped to highlight that.
But let's start with the subplot. "Miracle of Birth" is quite possibly my favorite Paula song ever. She looked so amazing and gorgeous and her voice is so angelic and then the words she's saying are so horrifying... it was comedic gold. We didn't get a ton of time with this whole cast of characters, because the focus was (rightfully) on Rebecca and Nathaniel. But the hospital scenes were absolutely delightful.
White Josh comes to see the baby, and he and Darryl decide to be friends - apparently both of them thought that the other one didn't want to. It's heartbreaking but in a cute way to watch the two of them smile with relief and express how much they've missed each other. I'm not sure if there's a path back to romance for them, but when Darryl told Heather that he just "missed his friend," it was... a perfect moment. I'm so glad that WhiJo came to the hospital and held Darryl's new baby daughter.
Heather's whole journey this season has been about giving her something that she can't quit. She decided to have a baby, and she couldn't un-decide that once it was happening. I love the fact that she's freaked out, but once on the drugs she handles it like a total pro and is oddly blase about the whole thing. That's so Heather. I also love the fact that she told Darryl that she was going to be in charge of her own birth experience - she didn't want a whole crowd of people there, and she wanted the drugs. Darryl, wisely, doesn't insist on anything different.
Okay. The main plot. Is. The best thing I've ever seen. Maybe an exaggeration, but still. The use of Trent as a character is a thing of beauty, and I'll tell you why - we saw quite clearly that he's meant to be a reflection of Rebecca's own journey. So what did Rebecca do when she got rejected by Josh Chan? She disappeared for a while, and then she came back for her revenge. So here, when Trent left, I totally believed it was over... and then when he turned up, I realized that of course he did. He needed his revenge just like Rebecca did. He's following the same patterns. And just as Rebecca kidnapped Josh's mom and did all sorts of sinister and horrible things, Trent sets out to kill Nathaniel, to show Rebecca that if he can't have her, no one can. This might seem like an incredibly dark turn for the show, but if you think it's coming out of nowhere, then you weren't paying attention to the stuff Rebecca has done over the years. This is a brilliant way to continue the use of Trent as Rebecca's parallel, and show the full extent of her damaging behavior.
Rebecca feels incredible guilt over all of the horrible things she has done to her friends, so she invites Nathaniel, Josh, and Paula to a meeting and she lays it all out for them. This is such an amazing scene, because you've got Josh punching Nathaniel in the face for all of the horrible things he almost did to his family, you've got Nathaniel reacting with true horror at Rebecca's "dark web" activities towards Mona, and you've got Paula, who is so crushed by Rebecca's deception about Trent that she actually spends the rest of the episode declaring that she's done with Rebecca for good. The fact that Rebecca wanted to own up to everything is so important, but I also like that she doesn't quite get it right. She tells everybody the worst things she's ever done, and afterwards she wants the guilt to be gone and to feel better. She still needs to learn to be responsible for her actions, and she needs to learn that apologies are about the person you're apologizing to, not the apologizing party.
And then Rebecca pushes Trent off of a roof. Sure, she does this because he was holding a knife on Nathaniel, unbeknownst to anybody else, but still. Rebecca pushes somebody off of a roof, and it's only the lucky chance that he fell into a pool that stops Trent from dying. And so she gets arrested. And so Nathaniel says she should plead insanity. And in the final moments of this episode, Rebecca... can't. She pleads guilty. She wants to face the consequences for her actions.
There is so much to unpack here I don't even know where to start."Nothing is Ever Anyone's Fault" is one of the most brilliant songs this show has ever produced. It is doing like a thousand things all at once. First of all, it's genuinely funny. I mean... Nathaniel's delivery when he says that he still does bad things, but are they actually bad? No! was absolutely hilarious. And the moment when they both have the realization about the Big Bang? Perfect. And on top of being genuinely funny, it's a genuinely sweet resolution for these two characters and their love story. Hearing them confess their love for reach other is cathartic, and sweet, and you really want these two to be happy.
But then you go a step further - it's funny, it's sweet, the vocal talent is on point... and then there's how it is a culmination of so much for both of these characters. Nathaniel started off as being a person who denies his feelings, and he has grown so much to the point where now he is very open and honest about how he's feeling. However, he takes that positive step and he can't quite stick the landing, as he decides to blame the bad things he does on the emotions he feels, which he can't control. He's right that he can't control how he feels, but wrong that he can't control what he does. And Rebecca has come so far with acknowledging that her behavior is wrong, but she still has yet to take the final step, which is to acknowledge that she can't blame any one thing for this bad behavior. Yes, she has BPD. Yes, she had horrible, abusive parents. But as she tells the judge, "I didn't mean to hurt Trent. But I did." That's an incredibly powerful and well-delivered message, and this song does such a great job of setting it up.
I also like how it so clearly and easily portrays the utter bullshit that is relative morality. Sure, Nathaniel's talking about his crappy parents, and Rebecca talks about her mother's abuse, but then they say that Hitler's not to blame because his brother's death made him "super sad," and it becomes quite easy to see that the argument holds no real water. This song also feels like a nice slap in the face to people who stan villains in movies and TV shows because of their "tragic backstory," as if their past traumas excuse all shitty behavior. I could go on, but suffice it to say, a tragic backstory may explain somebody's behavior, but it does not excuse it. There's a big difference. Nathaniel fails to recognize that, and Rebecca gets swept up in her love for him and in her fear of going to prison, so she agrees. But when the moment of truth arrives, Paula walks in to the court room. Rebecca sees her, and knows she needs to own up for all of her behavior.
And that's the end of Season Three. I'm shook, guys. I'm shook. This show does not rest on its laurels whatsoever. It pushes the boundaries, it follows things through to the logical consequences of people's actions, it deals with real-world issues through the magic of song and dance... I'm in love.
10/10
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