Stalker - Love Kills (Series Finale) - Review: "The end of Stalker"

"Why do birds suddenly appear?
Every time you are near
Just like me they long to be
Close to you

On the day that you were born
The angels got together
And dicided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkeld moondust in your hair
And gold of starlight in your eyes of bleu"
- Close to You -

"CBS' Stalker is the most-watched freshman series to get the hook (10.1 million). Stalker is a dual title holder, also being the highest-rated freshman series, demo-wise, to bite the dust in this just-concluded TV season." (Source: Deadline)

And yet, Stalker has been cancelled. Its series finale aired some two weeks ago and it won't return for another season. I understand the ratings were lower than expected, but it still hurts to see the show go. So here I am with my last Stalker review, which is very late (and I'm sorry for that).

After Janice discovered in the previous episode that there was a serial killer on the loose, the rest of the TAU is quickly notified. As explained, all the victims had a stalker who attended a sex and love addicts group and they were all killed by a murder weapon found in the house. Amanda and Trent are not enthustiatic about the theory, especially because that means various people have been wrongly put in jail for murder. Meanwhile, we see a woman named Christine being stalked by the killer, who watches her entering her security code and later kills her. WIth Beth and Ben back on the job, the team is fully hunting for the serial killer. When Christine is found the next day, the TAU and Trent look into the case. Her ex Brian has been stalking her so he is picked up for questioning. Turns out Brian and Christine were both involved with a woman named Eva. Brian has also attended sex and love addicts meetings. Eva says there was a guy named Jamie Toliver at the meetings that took an interest in the trio. Jack and Vicky go to a meeting and meet the group leader Nathan, who says he had coffee with Jamie the night of the murder. However, Nathan was home in time to watch the ten o'clock news. Vicky is surprised when she spots her ex-husband Will at the meeting.

Will reveals he went to these meetings after Vicky left him, where he told his story about her. Will is mad when Vicky starts accusing him, and he tells her he was at work the night Christine was murdered. Meanwhile, Jamie confronts Eva but Jack intervenes and arrests him. Jamie claims he didn't kill Christine, but his alibi doesn't collaborate with Nathan's. A ski mask that the killer wears is found in Jamie's truck, but Vicky believes it's all too easy and that Jamie might have been set up. Additionally, Will's alibi doesn't check out so he is brought in for questioning. He claims he was at a dinner with a client and after giving the information, he is free to go. However, it turns out Jack put a tracker on Will so Vicky can know where he is. When she pings his location, she is shocked to find out he is right outside her house. She locks the door and grabs her gun, but the serial killer comes up from behind. He tries to kill Vicky, but the latter overpowers him. She pulls off his mask, and the killer is revealed to be Nathan. However, he wakes up and tries again to kill Vicky. Fortunately, Will is there to save her and, although he ends up stabbed, Vicky manages to shoot and kill Nathan. It is later revealed that Nathan was an alias and that hat had also killed his wife.

Meanwhile, Vicky continues her investigation into Will's involvement in the Gardner murder case. She goes to visit Stan Gardner and he claims that Will was sleeping with his wife Sharon. When Sharon ended, Will started stalking her and eventually killed her. Beth helps Vicky with the investigation, and later tells her that Sharon fought her attacker. That left some dark leather material, but Vicky doesn't think Will owns a leather jacket. After Will has been stabbed, he comes to Vicky's house. Vicky apologizes for wrongly accusing him of murder, and he accepts the apology with a kiss. They later kiss again until Vicky gets an accidental cut from Will's watch. Vicky then realizes the clasps from Will's watch are broken, and that they broke in the struggle with Sharon. She says he strangled Sharon and reaches for her gun. However, Will took it and he asks what they are going to do now, ending the episode on a cliffhanger.

Why oh why did they have to end in a cliffhanger? Sure, it's not a huge cliffhanger like episode 17 ended on, but there is still the question of: what now? And sadly we will never get an answer. As a season finale, this would have been a fine cliffhanger. Anyway, this was a good episode, though not the best we have seen. The serial killer case was interesting, but I guessed it was either Will or Nathan. When Nathan was revealed to be the killer, I knew Will killed Sharon. So in that aspect, the episode was not very surprising. Still, it was a good ride and especially when Vicky was attacked, it was a real thriller. As I have said so many times before, I am not OK with Beth and Jack hooking up. This episode continued to force the two together. Had the show been renewed, that is definitely one thing I would like to see dropped completely.

But sadly, the show has been cancelled. I will really miss it. The season has been good and I've enjoyed most episodes. It was not free of mistakes, but the show got better as it progressed. I am still not sure why all the critics trashed it. Sure, the pilot opened with a woman being burnt to death, but that was really one of the few victims who died. I don't think the pilot was overly scary. Of course, there have been various scary moments in different episodes, but I don't think scaring people was ever the show's intention.

And with that, I conclude my last Stalker review. It has been a pleasure writing these and I hope you have enjoyed reading them. It has been fun interacting with you guys in the comments, so I hope you will leave a comment one last time. It's possible I will do a review of the entire season later this Summer.

What did you think of the Stalker series finale? Were you surprised when it was revealed that Nathan was the serial killer? How surprised was it to find out Will killed Sharon? What do you think Will would have done with Vicky? And lastly, how do you think a second season would have turned out? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

About the Author - Daniel van der Veer

Daniel van der Veer is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS, The 100, Stalker, Madam Secretary and the upcoming show American Odyssey. He also enjoys LOST, Arrow, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Nikita, The Blacklist, Scorpion and How To Get Away With Murder.

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