8x08 Auflösung

[7.3/10] An interesting, but sort of weird finale that I’m not totally sure what to make of. There’s several things it does well. For one thing, I like how so many things the series set up in prior episodes come back into play. Krieger’s dogs, Zurk’s affection for Cheryl, Dutch having to come back to Dreamland for his “blue stuff.” Even the reveals of everything that everyone was hiding from one another, coming out at a staccato pace, work nicely all at once.

And there’s some good, if dark humor. Archer tying everyone up and then putting socks in their mouth led to some amusing riffs on knock knock jokes and who would have that much rope. People accidentally shooting Lana that much has a rake gag quality to it. And Archer’s little monologue at Woodhouse’s grave has some of that rambling, literate charm the show packs into its dialogue.

But I don’t really know how to parse out the ending. There’s a sense in which Dreamland was really committing to the old noir film setup, where everyone pays a price and no one really gets what he wants. Everything is kind of anticlimax or denial of meaning.

Archer finds that it was Dutch who kills Woodhouse, and even manages to get revenge, but it wasn’t some twisted conspiracy from Mother or Trexler; it’s just a random dude killing another guy randomly for the hell of it.

For all the gnashing of teeth and expended effort over the ransom money, it turns out to just be full of magazines. The Chinese women that Poovey and Archer were protecting just go off (much to Poovey’s dismay). Krieger loses all his creations or has them fail. Nobody wins the battle between the gangsters, nobody ends up richer, nobody discovers any nefarious plots. In some ways this was all for nothing. I don’t have a problem with that, I’m just not sure if the show’s trying to say something or if it’s just an interesting way to end the season.

The same goes for all the references to alternate universes. Lana dying is obviously a bit of a shock, but fits with the noir tragic vibes. The only weird part is the suggestion that she’s dead throughout the multi-verse, which feels an awful lot like a similar declaration from Angel. I’ll be curious to see if they go anywhere with it or, like the generally futility evinced by the ending, if it means anything at all.

Overall, it’s a solid finale and a solid season, that worked best in the beginning when it was setting up and exploring the new universe it had created more than leaning into the plot-heavier stuff as it made it closer to the end. But overall, I’d still say the season was a success, and I’m curious to see where the show goes from here.