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Previously on The Bridge: Sebastian has gained Eleanor's loyalty, the CIA is working a shady deal, Linder had a less than successful attempt at murder, Marco is in a bad situation, and Sonya & Hank are very close to solving everything. Linder:
As much as I would like to say that I saw Linder's revival coming, I really did not. When I first saw that Linder was in the back of the semi, I rolled my eyes faster than you would believe. Linder continues to feel SO out of place on The Bridge (on top of that I can't understand a word the guy says). His reunion with Eva only worked because it seemed like it was finally an end to their story. With Robles' reputation in shambles and Linder seemingly free of his obsession, the two are somewhat free to live their lives. If the Bridge gets a third season, I am praying that they do not bring Linder & Eva back. Just let them be. Linder fans, let me know your side of this story in the comments below.
Frye/Adriana:
Frye's sobriety has been virtually nonexistent this season and as such I was really expecting that the writers would expound on this plot point. For whatever reason, the season finale only included two mentions of his drinking problem. I know it seems like we've gone through his substance abuse story before, but I can't see why Frye's tragic flaw was just ignored when it came to the season finale. This was a major oversight in my opinion. Additionally, I didn't really get a whole lot out of what Frye and Adriana had going on in this episode. They were continuing their investigation and gained an inside source (Hank), but it didn't really feel like they did anything worthy of a season finale.
Marco:
Marco's adventures with Fausto and Romina in the desert were probably the best part of the last 2 episodes. However, the fact that they were so good makes it even more disappointing that, in the end, Marco just walks Fausto into the police department and books him like he's on Hawaii Five-0. This reminded me of the complaints from The Mentalist fans when the major villain ended up scared of a bird (I never watched the show, but I heard the moans of fans loud and clear). After all that anticipation, Fausto just sits down in a jail cell and sulks. It was impossible to not feel let down.
Eleanor/Sonya:
All season long Eleanor's backstory has been teased and has always seemed very interesting. Towards the end of the season the thought occurred to me that the season finale is going to have to include a showdown between Eleanor and Sonya and it's also going to have to bring the story between Eleanor and her father to some sort of a close. I figured that these would coincide and that Eleanor's father would end up being a bargaining piece that would lead to an awesome showdown. In all of the scenarios I imagined I never thought the showdown would be quite as big of a letdown as what aired. When the camera zoomed out to the shot of the world all I could say was, "ok, so what?". We've seen Eleanor act like a freak before and we've seen Sonya shoot people before so it just didn't feel like it was the amazing finale I was hoping for.
Rating: 7.8/10 - It hurts me to give the season finale such a low score (a series low from me I believe), but so many stories fizzled to a forced and, at times, boring season finale. Overall, I think The Bridge is capable of writing a much better finale than they did. I have no complaints with the performances of the actors in this episode, but the writing just left me wondering why it all mattered. If The Bridge is able to grasp a third season, the writers are going to seriously need to consider where they want to take the story.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below.
Quotes (with answers):
You take me to prison... I'll still be King. - Fausto Galvan
You're drunk and stupid. - Adriana
I am not stupid. - Frye
I prefer to do this myself - Eleanor
Go be with you family.... I'll be with mine. - Eleanor
The demon is still inside of you. - Eleanor
Be sure to take a look at Brandon's set report from The Bridge. Additionally, check out SpoilerTV's first The Bridge set report written by Tonya Papanikolas.
I didn't really like this finale, and at this point I don't really care if it's renewed or not
ReplyDeletetruth be told
ReplyDeletei could totally understand why they tried to wrap things up so nicely considering FX did not give them any hint as to whether it was going to be renewed or not
although in light of this crappy episode, i think it serves as a good way for them to reboot the whole show in terms of storylines
Totally agree that it didn't feel like a proper season finale. I'm still pulling for a renewal because the show can be good and I enjoy the characters and the writing style.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with that, but I don't see why a reboot is really necessary. Coming into this season they had to reboot the storylines. If they wanted to move onto different stories or were concerned this might be there series finale, they could have done a much better job in bringing the current storylines to an explosive close.
ReplyDeleteAt least Buckley got his
ReplyDeletei honestly hope they delve back into the "dead girls of juarez" storyline
ReplyDeleteCheck the interview with the Bridge's Showrunner at Sepinwal's at Hitfix.
ReplyDeleteBasically he explains the finale was what FX wanted and he had other things in mind.
I still think this show is promising and has a potential.
But, needs to focus more on the core characters instead of the so many secondary, and keep its plot tighter.
I hope it gets a renewal, with its flaws still Bridge is a very interesting show to watch.
I have been wondering why they dropped this storyline,especially after Adriana's sister disappeared. I had expected it be be at least continued this season but they just left it completely, other than mentioning at the beginning of the season that they still were in the dark.
ReplyDeleteWell, I usually agree with you on many points but not so much this time. I am surprised you were bored so many times . I found it all engrossing, just not the slam - bang finale that people have been trained to expect from American series ' finales these days of shows trying to outdo each other. Yes, it did not have the wrenching tragedy of the death of Marco's son the first season had ( gleaned from the European original version of The Bridge) but the show runners struck out on their own this year and I thoroughly enjoyed what they did with the material independently of the original 's plots. I agree with you that Marco just strolling into Robles' police station with Galvan and his last loyal henchman was an odd disjointed off pace moment ( which was dangerous since at that point Robles was still in charge with many policeman still under his command and he could have easily made the 3 of them just vanish with one order---later he had been dismissed by the Counsel). Plus, that whole desert flight to a rusty old truck was weird since Galvan had made millions upon millions from his criminal activities and that was all he could manage? I must disagree ( respectfully, mind you, cause I really enjoy your work and appreciate that you are continually gracious to us in your efforts) with you about Frye--- his addictions are who he is and I would not have considered any resolution of his sobriety issues important to the plot in any way ( you did not like that it was only mentioned once but wasn't it brought up twice-- once with the CIA nut burning the documents in Fyre's apartment and then with Adriana in her office?) I just do not see any issue with his addictions as essential to the story lines because that is his character. I have longed all along for a more dramatic moment between Sonya and Eleanor but by letting Eleanor live we might get more between them if the series gets a third season. Anyway, it was a different kind of finale and I was OK with that because there is much material left for another season-- it would be good to see them revisit the lost girls of Juarez and Adriana's sister's vanishing--- with so many characters still alive instead of the usual littered landscape of dead cast members. But , in the end you have your opinions and I respect them. i liked the finale and hope The Bridge is back for a season 3.
ReplyDeleteI saw that and it definitely answers why everything felt like an odd rush to an end. I agree that it remains promising. If it gets a third season, I'll definitely be tuning in.
ReplyDeleteYes. Agree. I was stunned to see Linder alive, and I hope he and Eva go off somewhere and buy a nice pink house and stay out of trouble. They're done on this show. Eleanor's backstory seemed oddly anticlimactic. We've known that her father had abused her when she was a child, so the new information about her being made to lie on acorns was just not that exciting. I liked Romina's surprise attack on Fausto, and in fact I liked everything that happened in the desert. The season's thesis, that members of the U.S. government are encouraging drug trade because of the profit, seems dubious. Nevertheless, I was glad to see Buckley get what was coming to him.
ReplyDeleteAfter so many edge-of-your-seat episodes, this episode was rather quiet, although still good. I gave it a "good" and not "great."
Wow. Thank you for taking the time to not only read, but respond to every part of my review. The world wouldn't be very interesting if we all agreed on everything. Haha. ;) You're absolutely correct in the number of times Frye's addictions were mentioned and I will update the review momentarily. Also, I see what you're saying about Frye's addictions being a part of his character, but it seems a little contradictory to me for Adriana to spend so much time getting him away from that so that he can be a true professional and then just have him slide back into the routine and be just as good of a journalist.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree that it would be interesting to see some sort of a return to Adriana's sister's disappearance. They tried to make a dramatic shift in story telling this season and while it worked for the majority of the season, i think a return to that story line could be fresh. Glad you liked the finale. We'll both be hoping for a third season!
There was a general consensus that the world of the border was a more interesting story than the serial killer story line. I, personally, would like to see a return to it next season, but I doubt it will happen, even if they get another season.
ReplyDeleteWow, it's really annoying to hear that FX was meddling like that. They usually have a good reputation for letting the writers do what they want.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree, I think that the finale was completely on par with the rest of the season, which I think was a lot better than Season 1.
ReplyDeleteI think that the fact that some of the stories didn't result in an amazing ending is part of the show's strength. It shows that, no matter how hard you try, you are not going to solve all of the problems in El
Paso and Juarez.
I really hope that The Bridge gets renewed for Season 3, because I think it is really evolving in an amazing show!
Glad you enjoyed the finale. It's totally true that they will never solve all of the problems in El Paso and Juarez, but I think they could have done a better job of creating an exciting set of problems in the end of the season, even if they weren't entirely resolved. FX renewed The Bridge last season on September 24, 2013, so I'm expecting to hear about a third season renewal or cancellation any day now
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was weird that Adriana's sister's disappearance was completely dropped! Like so many other things this season!
ReplyDeleteI also thought Eleanor's backstory seemed anticlimactic!
ReplyDeleteBrandon - loved your review and agreed with it! As soon as I saw the title ("Is That It?"), I thought that's how I felt! The season finale just did not feel like a season finale. Many stories felt anti-climactic. I wish the Eleanor/Sonya moments had more punch, the Frye/Adriana plot seemed kind of irrelevant, the CIA/DEA story just didn't intrigue me and felt a little hollow in its set-up/reasons, and Eleanor's backstory (and Marco's arresting Fausto) didn't ever fully wow after it was introduced (I, too, wish there had been more to both of them in the end). I hate to say this season was disappointing. In my opinion, they introduced too many storylines and focused too much on minor details that seemed like they were going to be interesting and then weren't. (Like the guy who saw Jesus in the blood - that was irrelevant to any plot and he ended up just being the same killer as he started out as.) I felt like they didn't focus enough on the main characters and there wasn't enough interesting progression in most of the characters. The one thing I did like about the finale was that Sonya and Marco each finally trusted each other and said they needed each other's help. I enjoyed that development. But they didn't even have that many scenes together. The show also had too many plots go by the wayside. I wish I could say I loved the season 2 reboot but I didn't. :( I DID enjoy your insightful reviews, though, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteTonya, kalispera, I agree in many points with you, it feels like they got lost in their own ambition.
ReplyDeleteI understand their goal to describe the whole Mx-us border universe, but you simply can't say everything in 40mins of a tv 13episodes series. I dont mind the interesting bizarre details/characters/scenes as long as you dont spend more time than needed on them.
The greatest example of this mess, is Eleanor. Very interesting and scary villain but why consume so much precious time with her, when you already have a big equally interesting villain, Fausto? And then add a third master villain, the CIA guy? WTH? Hello Bridge creators, in your poster you have the faces of Marco and Sonya.
What made the original danish/swedish show so interesting, was the relationship of the two police officers from the two countries. They were lucky in the US version that Bichir and Kruger had great chemistry, but they failed to use it in season 2.
Sonya and Marco should be the core, the foundation of the show and build around them.
Instead, it felt like those 2 were supporting cast in the story of Fausto and Eleanor.
I still wish to see a 3rd season, but I hope if we get one it wont be the same unfocused mess.
They really do have an excellent reputation in this arena. I wouldn't see it as meddling as much as highly suggesting based on ratings and the unlikelihood of a third season. If they end up not getting a third season, I would say that it was probably pretty good advice seeing as the some of the story was brought to a conclusion.
ReplyDeletethebgt - kalinichta! That's a great way to put it - "they got lost in their own ambition!" That's a perfect description! I also don't mind the interesting bizarre details/characters/scenes if there's a point to them. (In fact, they're great when done right!) I understand your point about the villains - they had Eleanor and Fausto and then the CIA guy - and it spread things out thin in terms of screentime and story and effectiveness. Out of those villains, though, I definitely liked Eleanor the best. For me Fausto was kind of interesting at first but then fell flat to me. The CIA guy story just was weird. Oh, have you seen the original Danish/Swedish show? How interesting! It would be fascinating to see that one and then The Bridge. You're right, though - Bichir and Kruger had great chemistry but they failed to use it in season 2. They really should have been "the core, the foundation," like you say with the show built around them. Instead they really did feel like supporting cast sometimes. I also hope we get a 3rd season - with the same hopes as you for the content!
ReplyDeleteI think the writers just wanted to tie everything thing up like they did in the 1st season which makes me think that they werent very confident that they were going to get a third.
ReplyDeleteThe only things they teased going into a possible 3rd season was Marco possibly getting a promotion and the mention that Adriana tried to commit suicide (which i would guess has something to do her with her mom and her being a lesbian)
The one thing i did like though was at the very end when Marco arrived and he said that he would take care of the acorn guy. It showed that he and Sonya were operating on a whole new level now and that they would be taken seriously by everyone.
Also, Diane Kruger really let me down this season. As Kirk Lazarus (Tropic Thunder) would say: "You never go full retard". Diane lost the handle she had on her character.