MovieChat Forums > Rectify (2013) Discussion > season 3 finale was a better ending

season 3 finale was a better ending

posted 8 years ago by Makarov-324
53 replies | jump to latest

I love Rectify so I would never want less seasons, but my initial impression after the finale I am a little let down with season 4. This was a very good episode, many heart tugging moments but I think a let down as a series finale.

For one ending the series with Daniel heading off to the New Canaan Project was a perfect time to end it. Here we have Daniel dreaming of being in a field with a random chick he just met which he has zero chance with and barely knows. I realize that as a symbol for Daniel having hope, the final scene is satisfying in that regard. But Tawney is basically forgotten, Teddy's conflict with Daniel is resolved over the phone, and everything feels disconnected. All these phone resolutions is the last thing I wanted to see in a series finale with these characters...

The Kerwin scene with them imaginary driving was fantastic, but why have the scene with Daniel describing Kerwin's last words? That was like a recap for viewers who forgot.

The news broadcast with them reopening the investigation felt like trying to have some sort of last minute resolution and heavily implicate Chris. I'd rather have some closure on the store situation and what these characters might do after that. The sherrif was awesome in season 3 and his intensity was dropped like a hot potato in this season (in terms of giving him the amount of scenes he truly deserves)

I was also hoping with Daniel separated from his family this season we would get more episodes like the one in season 2 where Daniel goes to the museum and has an interesting adventure by himself. It ended up being mostly Chloe centric instead.

[–] Mr_Fluffykins 8 years ago

The Kerwin scene with them imaginary driving was fantastic, but why have the scene with Daniel describing Kerwin's last words? That was like a recap for viewers who forgot.

he mentions all the good moments in his life are far more numerous, then the bad ones, and that the bad ones just have more emotional weight and baggage this is Daniel as his most optimistic, couple with kerwin saying "because i know, because i know, because i know" trying to reaffirm, that the person who knew Daniel the best
knew he was innocent, knew he would get out of there,

The news broadcast with them reopening the investigation felt like trying to have some sort of last minute resolution and heavily implicate Chris. I'd rather have some closure on the store situation and what these characters might do after that. The sherrif was awesome in season 3 and his intensity was dropped like a hot potato in this season.

I thought the news conference was to show the most important characters, good and bad, react to the news that an outside body, without prejudice is going to come in and do things right, and to see their reactions, Chris ashamed turned off his tv when his daughter came in and look worried, the people at the diner were all watching Melton Sr leaves as marcy points out what is on TV, the senator looks on, with his *beep* up face but cognitive faculties seeing his legacy eventually dragging down the drain, the family watches united as-well, happily unburdened,

the family all got some kind of closure, it just wasn't explicit, janet and ted sr have rekindled thier romance, Tawney is going to finish her nursing degree and joint doctors without borders, teddy has a degree in business and won't be charged with a felony, jared certainly has enough money for college, Amantha had closure with jenny parr and jon while getting closer to billy, melvin got a new set of tires, mr pickles got a job, tyrus got a job, nate is just nate, treys life is ruined for the lies he told,
Daniel is eventually seeing hope, although it may take up to a year of sessions

and that chloe momment can either be taken as a peaceful dream for daniel, or since she was hardly even showing, and that was one big baby, maybe daniel did get exonerated, as that scene takes place in Paulie could be after a years worth of therapy,

[–] meangrl29 8 years ago

"melvin got a new set of tires"
LMAO.

[–] mickeymyhorse 8 years ago

Yeah. Poor Melvin. I don't think this man has many friends, if any, and I doubt ever gets invited to a poker game for a night out with the boys. I was glad the Holden/Talbot family included him in the "clean up." Melvin looked very happy to lend a hand.

[–] Mr_Fluffykins 8 years ago

Melvin needs his own spin off
"the real landlords of Paulie Georgia"

Teddy can costar

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

the family all got some kind of closure, it just wasn't explicit

Holy smoke! I don't know how "closure" could be any more explicit, or excessive. This was closureama. Even Melvin shows up, just to have the semi group hug be all-inclusive. Cue uplifting music.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] Eva_Marrie 8 years ago

Ahaha! Love your snark here, Whatlarks because I agree wholeheartedly. Neat little bows all around!! Excuse me while I go punch something...😡

[–] ShaeBlue 8 years ago

I am use to getting neat little bows from other crappy television shows, but I had higher standards for Rectify.

[–] mme3924-1 8 years ago

I agree about closureama....or closurama.

I said this elsewhere but will say it here, too:

The scene at the Talbot house, after they packed up the tire shop, was designed as closure, with a capital C. Daniel calls and then gets to talk to those he hadn't already had "closure" with: Teddy and Tawney. He gets an apology from Teddy and apologizes himself, and gets to talk to his friend and former savior, Tawney, and they get to wish each other well. He had earlier had closure with Amantha on the phone, with Jon in Nashville, with Ted Sr., when they were in Nashville, and with Janet, of course.

It was practically a Walton Family "good night" scene.

I thought the ending was not bad. It was quite positive. But I also agree with another poster who surmised that someone -- possibly not McKinnon unless he wanted to placate fans -- may have influenced the ending. It's hard to know since I'm unfamiliar with McKinnon's other writing, if there is any. But why McKinnon wouldn't be familiar with the final version is a puzzle, in that he directed it. But perhaps he had no editing input.

Daniel has thrown off his despair and guilt and confusion and "can't remember" cloak and has found Hope. When talking to Jon, he appears, not to still wonder if he did it, but to share Jon and his family's hope that the new investigation will exonerate him. That indicates to me that McKinnon knows -- and who does if not he? -- that Daniel was and is innocent. Otherwise, I think we'd have the same old Daniel, tortured and unsure and possibly guilty.

I thought the music was awful...and I don't usually even notice music.

The "feel good" ending for the other characters was fine with me. I guess I'd rather see people happy than not. Was it true to the series, or the characters themselves? In real life, perhaps not. I thought Teddy's evolution was both believable and not, if that makes sense. It's difficult for people to change, to see and acknowledge their faults. But maybe Teddy really was able to. I just don't think we saw it; it just seemed to happen....following his drunken shooting escapade (heavily symbolic, his injuring himself). Truthfully everyone seemed to have an epiphany; Amantha just said it out loud.

I could have done without Daniel's "dream" scene -- his meeting Chloe and the baby in a sunlit field. His attachment to Chloe never seemed all that healthy to me, just a support he found and clung to. A more natural ending, I thought, would have been the scene immediately before -- all the principals gathered in the kitchen after talking with Daniel.

But, as McKinnon said, it is what it is. Whatever that means.

[–] ShaeBlue 8 years ago

I thought the ending was not bad. It was quite positive.

I will also commend McKinnon for not being afraid to give a "happy ending" to his characters many of whom have already endured great emotional turmoil. Some shows think killing off loved characters is the only way to move people. You can end a show on a positive note and still have it be meaningful.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] ShaeBlue 8 years ago

All so very convenient and right on cue too.

[–] TamPalm 8 years ago

teddy has a degree in business

When was this stated? I don't recall hearing that.

"If it doesn't make sense, it's not true." -- Judge Judy

[–] rubirub 8 years ago

As much as I enjoyed season 4, I think it was weaker than the previous ones.

I felt there was some kind of rush to turn everything around: Daniel falling in love with Chloe, the sale of the family business, the Hanna case, etc. I would have prefered to keep things more simple.

I'm not saying the season 3 finale was a better ending, but it was a better season. I would have left the case behind and explore the characters' situation a little more... Season 4 felt short to me though, still want more.

[–] michael-mcgeehan 8 years ago

I agree. I feel the writers totally missed the mark with the last season. It felt rushed to me and quite boring at times. The family dynamics was the heart of the show and I feel let down that they didn't have Daniel interact with these core characters more in season 4.

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

I thought much of the finale was forced. Artificial. False.

What do you do when you separate the main source of energy, of direct provocation, from the core group of affected characters? This was the primary creative challenge coming into S4.

That challenge wasn't well met, in my view. The solution, whatever it is, is not to introduce a character like Chloe. Misconceived from the start. Designed to deliver Daniel smoothly to "closure." This was bad writing. Yes, bad writing, because it inevitably let a tremendous amount of air out of already deflated tires. The opposite needed to occur. On top of this, the character was badly cast. Disastrous.

I choose to exclude the finale from what I will recall as the real Rectify. As I also will with much of S4.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] mme3924-1 8 years ago

This was bad writing. Yes, bad writing, because it inevitably let a tremendous amount of air out of already deflated tires. The opposite needed to occur. On top of this, the character was badly cast. Disastrous.

Now you think it's bad writing? Didn't you take me to task and defend the writing when I criticized it 4 or 5 episodes ago?

While I don't want to start anything up again, I am glad to see that you think Season 4, as a whole, is not well written.

It is, to me, so obviously a series wrap up, hitting all the "right" notes....as unbelievable as they may be. It's what prompted my criticism of the first episode in which Daniel had so regressed; I thought I could see then that McKinnon was capsulizing the entire series in Season 4, beginning with Daniel's trauma and bringing him forward to reconciliation and hope, which he finally obtained, partly in the (I agree) false note Chloe. I don't think they needed Chloe. Daniel could have achieved his transformation without her. But they -- whoever "they" is -- apparently wanted a little romance -- from the false start with Tawney -- and someone to "parent" or "mother" Daniel (which is why Chloe is pregnant) to urge him to seek counseling. Because Daniel was essentially a child when he went to prison, I suppose....although the symbolism seems a little muddy.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

You've misread, because what I took you to task for was missing a great deal of specific context limited to events in earlier seasons, and not considering context influencing Daniel's demeanor as S4 opens. It's not inconsistent to defend writing in X context, and criticize it in Y context.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] ivitt 8 years ago

Season 4 was a dream in its fullest sense. None of it was real. The last scene of Daniel laying in bed was the only real part of the season. The rest was him dreaming about ideal constructs to the people in his life and his dream girl.

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

- Carl Sagan

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] mme3924-1 8 years ago

You've misread, because what I took you to task for was missing a great deal of specific context limited to events in earlier seasons, and not considering context influencing Daniel's demeanor as S4 opens. It's not inconsistent to defend writing in X context, and criticize it in Y context.

When you disagree with me -- or I with you -- you always say I "misread". It's always about my lack of comprehension, never on my interpretation or, indeed, yours.

But so be it. Bad writing, "misreading", feel good ending -- take your pick. I think I prefer not being so invested that I have to cling to Seasons 1-3 and pretend S4 didn't happen.

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

Well, you misread me for the reasons noted, which you've chosen to avoid.

I've actually never said that you've "misread" until this thread.

If an interpretation is founded on missing enormous chunks of context which was clearly presented, then it is about a lack of comprehension.

As for S4 I've addressed it in detail. I choose to think of the first 3 seasons as the heart of Rectify, with S4 - lots of scenes excepted - as ultimately forgettable.

Being a little more invested would have helped you see the context you missed, and I wouldn't have taken you to task for the resulting misinterpretation.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] mme3924-1 8 years ago

Being a little more invested would have helped you see the context you missed, and I wouldn't have taken you to task for the resulting misinterpretation

So it's my fault that you took me to task? LOL!

But, as I said, so be it.

It's been, if not enlightening, at least interesting....mostly.

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

It's reasonable to say it's your fault for misinterpreting, for the reasons noted. And for choosing to consistently avoid them. I take responsibility for providing the missing context, and for taking you to task.

In one case you missed the entire content of the episode "Donald the Normal" leading to the kitchen destruction at the very end. I mean, no wonder the character's motivation in that scene wasn't clear to you. A little more investment could have led to clarity and fuller appreciation of the drama.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] mme3924-1 8 years ago

I seem to get a lot of condescension on these boards. It's apparently the easiest thing going when responding to someone with whom you disagree.

I may be guilty of it myself...though I try not to be since I consider it such a cheap shot.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mme3924-1 8 years ago

An angry bird.

LOL. Like the game on your phone?

male stewardess

Oxymoron, Sign. LOL....again!

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mme3924-1 8 years ago

Oh...okay. I confess it hadn't occurred to me you were being intentionally "oxymoronic".

This is what I am imaging a troll is going through when you won't agree with him about something. Then he will insult you and condescend you, and then retreat back to his safe space to try again later. It's why you are taking so much flak, often seemingly out of the blue and only directed at you. He wants to win. He needs to win. He will try until he does.

If by "you" you mean me specifically, not the general You, then I admit I don't always recognize trolls. But I know Whatlarks is not one, no matter what you say or believe. I've read and admired his/her comments on other boards, too, and recognize her/him as an intelligent, educated, well read, and articulate contributor. We do not always disagree as we have on Rectify.

I have taken a lot of flak, from time to time, here and on another message board. I try to rise above it, knowing that it's all an exercise in opinion letting, that I don't know these people, nor they me, and our association is completely voluntary. We can end it at any time. And I do, at times, by simply refusing to any longer respond. It's the best way. Because nobody ever actually wins these things. No matter how much they try....or, indeed, post.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ShaeBlue 8 years ago

I thought much of the finale was forced. Artificial. False.

Agree 100%

That challenge wasn't well met, in my view. The solution, whatever it is, is not to introduce a character like Chloe. Misconceived from the start. Designed to deliver Daniel smoothly to "closure." This was bad writing. Yes, bad writing, because it inevitably let a tremendous amount of air out of already deflated tires. The opposite needed to occur. On top of this, the character was badly cast. Disastrous.

Thank you for putting into words exactly what I felt. Sigh..why can't I ever find a show that has strong writing for its entire run? Instead you get 1-3 great seasons and everything else is wtf.

I choose to exclude the finale from what I will recall as the real Rectify.

Like how I skipped over certain scenes to help me continue to enjoy the overall show

[–] TamPalm 8 years ago

All really great points in all the posts. (You all are so smart! I love it!) I do agree with many of the criticisms.

Season 4 was the weakest overall in that it did feel like a rush job (ironic since there was such a long hiatus before it aired.) But I give the writers a bit of a pass because as I've seen with other high-quality shows, it must be a real challenge to end something that's not altogether ready to end. It's like cooking a perfect meal, letting it marinate and simmer to perfection, then realizing at the last minute you forgot you had to leave the house, so you turn up the oven to try to get the food to finish quickly and something gets lost in the process. Still a stellar meal, but you can tell the cook maybe wanted it to cook a little bit longer than it did.

I enjoyed the finale overall, but I agree with some of the critique. I wasn't crazy about sticking Chloe in the end because 1) I didn't think the character was significant enough to warrant being the last face we see on the show (reminded me of how the character Megan was forced down the throats of the Mad Men audience) and 2) I thought her leaving earlier and Daniel accepting her leaving was adequate closure and still showed Daniel could still have hope for love in the future. So while I didn't mind the character being in the show, I thought putting her at the end was gratuitous. Not enough to make me down the show at all, just took at little bit away from the finale.

But I think the finale is worth a re-watch. I re-watched some of it and for some reason, I felt even better about it the second time around. So many gems. So many genuinely uplifting moments. I enjoyed Janet calling Amantha her hero, Pickle telling Daniel "Welcome" [to life and hope and disappointment and expectation], Janet and Amantha hugging at the end while Janet made small talk with Daniel on the phone like a regular mom with her regular kids would do as if that's all they ever really wanted, Teddy showing genuine compassion for Daniel's situation and Daniel being magnanimous enough to accept the olive branch, Teddy being mature enough to offer Tawney the phone to speak to Daniel, Jared walking on his parents kissing with his characteristic sarcastic quip, and so on and forth. I just found myself smiling over and over. It felt good to know these characters and grow to love them. It was a just reward for an emotional journey.

"If it doesn't make sense, it's not true." -- Judge Judy

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

All of those uplifting moments would have been all right for me if they hadn't been jammed into the last hour. That's not the reward I wanted or needed because the emotional journey had been more faithful to life, more rigorously honest. One scene after the other blatantly intended to stir tears of delight -- resistance is not futile, and I will not be assimilated.

Update! I just watched the finale again and I had a very difference response. I believe I was very influenced by the music the first time around. It was so on-the-nose! And it made all the difference that - not sure why - I was able to tune out the music and simply experience the scenes for themselves.

Showrunners don't necessarily have control of the music, so while McKinnon directed the finale, the network might have imposed the music. And they might have imposed it throughout S4.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] prairie-16766 8 years ago

On Battlestar Galactice: Reimagined Series, it sometimes seemed like Bear McCreary had control over the pacing of the entire show (even though he says he didn't). In any case, often his music really makes an episode.

[–] Makarov-324 8 years ago

What made you change your mind? For me the music was fine, didn't affect the problems I had with the writing. They still had characters literally phoning up Daniel for closure and things like that.

I'm not sure I believe the network would suddenly get involved, isn't that a little random to start controlling it in season 4? And why would they choose to make it happier when unhappy/bleak seems to draw a lot of ratings these days.

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

I said what made me change my mind. The music. What you think of the music doesn't speak to my experience, the reason I changed my mind.

Yes, the phone closure was weak. Unfortunately, in my view the weakest part of the finale was its last quarter, and endings are what we tend to remember and they tend to colour everything beforehand. But there were strong scenes to that point:

- Kerwin and Daniel taking a drive in NYC;
- Janet and Judy in Hanna's bedroom;
- Jared and Bobby in the back yard;
- Bobby Dean apologizing to Amantha;
- Daniel and Amantha on the phone;
- Daniel arriving to find Chloe gone;
- Daniel and the young boy on the bus;
- Janet apologizing to Amantha;
- Daniel recounting to his therapist the day they took Kerwin for execution;
- Teddy asking Carl about Lester, then asking if he still thinks Daniel killed Hanna;
- Jon and Amantha saying goodbye;
- Daniel in group at New Canaan, Pickles telling him about hope;
- Daniel talking to Jon about his just beginning to see himself as worthy, and feeling a responsibility to make it, and how despite more people helping than harming him, the harm seems to leave the deeper mark;
- Trey and Daggett.

As for the network getting involved, if they did it wouldn't be random -- the last season would be where they'd likely push for more influence because the show's ratings were always in the basement; it's their last chance to bring them up. The show had been unhappy, so happying things up for a feel-good final season would be the rational approach to compensate and attract some more eyeballs. Slide into a more homegenized mainstream sensibility, where the bigger numbers are. Those numbers aren't in the unhappy/bleak spectrum. Unless it's a crime procedural, unhappy/bleak is a relatively small niche.

Showrunners don't get final cut. They don't have total control of music, or anything else. The network is boss.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] Eva_Marrie 8 years ago

Were the ratings low by Sundance standards? In comparison to their other shows? I can't imagine them having smashing ratings on anything as they're so highbrow and hard to access for US viewers.

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

Rectify was their first commissioned drama. But just because their ratings are low on other offerings doesn't mean they wouldn't want them to be higher on their prestige drama - especially if it might help them get an nomination or two and maybe an award. That could translate into a lot more money in the near term. They don't want to wait 20 years for recognition and revenue.

Again, not saying they did interfere. I'm familiar with showrunner/network power dynamics, and it's not out of the question that the network exerted more influence on S4 than earlier.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] Ava_T 8 years ago

Without knowing any particulars about what went on behind the scenes, I can only imagine what happened based on a comparison of season 1-3 & 4. I agree that the end of season 3 would have been more appropriate and true to the series. Perhaps it was even McKinnon's intention to end it there, but higher powers at the studio insisted we needed 'closure', and more upbeat at that.

4 felt substantially different, and the finale almost a caricature of the Hollywood-style feel-good ending. The scene of Daniel walking in the sunset to Chloe and child struck me as an hilarious cherry on top to the season. Somehow I don't think McKinnon would disapprove of that reaction.

Rectify - parody pix
https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-TLG67x/

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

Q: Someone could make the argument that Janet watching Daniel disappear behind the door at New Canaan at the end of season 3 could have been the end of the series…

McKinnon: "I’m with you!" (laughs)

Q: You said that you agreed with me when I said the show could have ended after season 3. Was there any hesitation on your part to keep it going for one more year? How was that decision ultimately made?

McKinnon: "I think I was ambivalent from the beginning... The last season, I felt some obligation to Sundance and AMC for all they had done for me in allowing me to tell this story, and we decided, 'Let’s do one more,' so that’s what happened."

http://uproxx.com/sepinwall/rectify-series-finale-interview-ray-mckinnon/2/

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] Eva_Marrie 8 years ago

That's interesting, because we've been assuming that Rectify was cut short due to network decisions. Instead it was extended due to them.

[–] Whatlarks 8 years ago

Yep. It's also obvious that he didn't really wanna do S4, but went along out of a sense of obligation. Lack of independent motivation/enthusiasm like before might explain the lack of inspiration in 4. Many scenes excepted -- I'm talking about the overall.

It would also explain why the more on-the-nose music and an equivalent shift in the story to less ambiguity and overt convenience, in particular Chloe-the-magic-ally-gf. Perhaps his sense of obligation extended to shifting to a more popular sensibility.

"You must not judge what I know by what I find words for." - Marilynne Robinson

[–] Eva_Marrie 8 years ago

That's interesting, because we've been assuming that Rectify was cut short due to network decisions. Instead it was extended due to them.

[–] Wood-20 8 years ago

I completely agree that Season 3 felt like the real ending. The disjointed nature of the character interactions in season 4, and the introduction of all the new characters that really ended up having no depth, brought the whole thing down.