Full show review tomorrow. Perfect ending.
[SPOILERS]
"I'll go"
"And I'll stay. And we'll be okay"
This is a truly, deeply spectacular episode so I feel bad for beginning this review on a less adoring note but I just want to clarify that this episode didn't destroy me the way it does for a lot of people. It's beautiful, I cried, it has what I consider to be the best scene of the show, but as seen through the runtime and general focus of the episode, it's definitely an episode that mostly dedicates itself on affirming the conclusions of the characters and building up to that very last scene. As much as it masterfully pulls off the ending, it's still not quite one of my favourite episodes of all time. I don't want that to detract from how much I loved this though, it's a masterpiece and I still think this was the best possible way the show could have gone out, I'm so grateful for the experience I had with this show.
To start off, I love the way the events of the last episode are used as a way for their relationship to rekindle. The show has had them get together several times at this point and so they really needed to stick the landing with this final time, but the space they have between each other in the 4 episodes before this and the amazing plot beats in each one help them pull off this last time that they get together. Those last few lines of dialogue from Connell in episode 11 telling Marianne that he won't let anyone ever hurt her again feel even more valuable because of that, knowing that he stayed true to that promise and Marianne finally found comfort because of him.
As for the events of this episode, I can't really describe how gorgeous it was to see Connell and Marianne in a state of peace and content after everything they've gone through across the show. It's really everything I could've wanted after everything they've been through, and I know that sounds like I only enjoy it as a decision because of how attached I am to the characters, and to an extent that is true, but it's also a great decision story wise. They've done a really great job of making the audience feel what the characters feel, so it's just as poignant for the viewer as it is Connell and Marianne. One beautiful detail I noticed that shows this symbolically is that last episode ends with a shot of the moon at night while Connell and Marianne are driving away from Marianne's home after what happened, while this episode starts with a shot of the sun during the day in a scene that Connell and Marianne are once again driving in, symbolising how much things have changed for the better since then.
So many scenes exemplify how they're feeling in an incredible way. The standout for me is the one of Marianne spending Christmas with Connell's family, while she may never have had the joy of experiencing that with her own family, she finally experiences it here and it's so touching. It's also made better with them showing that Marianne and her mother are now estranged, genuinely a great and realistic end to their dynamic as cold as it is and it's expressed in such a subtle way too. A scene of a couple spending Christmas together and one of them getting emotional shouldn't inherently be that impactful, but it entirely comes across that way due to the context of the rest of the show before it. It's things like this where Normal People manages to bring beauty to the most simple, humane moments in such a profound way. It also speaks for what makes the majority of the episode as a whole that great, on a surface level not everything here is really exceptional or one of the best episodes of the series and yet with everything that came before it it manages to be so powerful.
The other standout scene for me other than the last one was the one of Connell and Marianne kissing in the bar. If any moment really tied back to the start of the series to show how far the both of them have came, it's absolutely that one. I mean, it literally shows their first kiss at the same time as it shows them in the present (which can be interpreted as the scene showing both their first and last kiss, emphasising the open-ended nature of the final scene). At the start of the show, Connell hid his affection for Marianne out of shame of how people may treat him and their relationship was kept as a secret. At the end of the show they go to a bar for new year's with all the people Connell was afraid would judge him for it, all now matured and accepting of Marianne, and Connell kisses her in front of all of them. None of this is explicitly said and most of the dialogue of the scene is all regular small talk that's irrelevant to what the scene is conveying, and yet there's so much brilliant subtext.
Finally, we have the final scene. The conclusion for the characters and what this entire episode revolves around. I cannot express enough how perfect of an ending this was for me. Literally every single part of the show somehow revolved around Connell and Marianne's dynamic. Every aspect of their characters, their backstories, all of their friends, the show is meticulously made so that everything somehow adds depth to not only their two characters, but the relationship between them. That's why I find it so heart-wrenching that the final development the show gives is them finally learning to be apart from one another.
Normal People is the most powerful love story I've ever experienced, largely in part to how the two of them grow due to one another and how their lives wouldn't be the same without each other. They've done so much for one another across the show's run, whether it's being the person who they felt like themselves with when they didn't with anyone else, or being there for each other during the worst times of their lives. It's because of all that they've done for one another that Connell is able to fight his doubts and live without Marianne and for her to do the same, because they helped each other to be happy in the other parts of their lives and not just when they're with each other. They love each other enough that they want the best for each other, so Marianne gives Connell the power to chase his aspirations (which Marianne inspired him to achieve in the first place by giving him the confidence to study English at college in the first episode) while Connell lets Marianne stay in Dublin as she finally feels comfort in the place that has caused her so much pain.
Normal People was a show about two people who struggled to find connection with those around them, who struggled to be happy, who each respectively had their tragic flaws and pasts, but felt less lonely with each other. The ending is them reaching a point where they've changed each other's lives so profoundly that they don't feel so empty with everyone else, and are capable of healthily living apart from one another. It's incredibly bittersweet , there's an uncertainty that they'll still be together once the year is over, but even if they can't promise that they'll still be together, Connell can wholeheartedly say that he'll never love anyone the same way he loves Marianne and vice versa. The fact that they make sure to clarify that Connell and Marianne might not be together forever is perfect because it gives the ending more emotions to leave the audience behind with, and the only other finale to attempt an ambiguous ending that can be interpreted 2 vastly different ways in a way that's even more affecting is Made in America.
Simply stellar in every single way I could have imagined. This series is so conscious in how it depicts its characters and the themes behind the way they act, and that was translated impossibly well with this episode. This show is simply just a journey that I don't think will ever be replicated, no other show can fulfil what it does the exact same way. Thanks to everyone for being here while I saw it, I loved discussing it with some users here.
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