You and your sister have each other. That's real love. That's more than most people ever get.
The Great Unknown
We start the episode with a close up of their sleeping father's face as the siblings look at him from upstairs. They're trying to figure out what to do with him when he wakes up and they decide to go say hi. He tells them he's in pain, his pancreas and liver are shot and he's decided he can't live with the pain anymore so he will euthanize himself, he has even ordered the pills already. They ask about their mother and he says she found everything a bit unpalatable and has decided to recuse herself from the situation. Valerie and Alex outraged go upstairs to decide what to do.
Valerie: We can't indulge this, right?
Alex: Not in my house.
Valerie: What?
Alex: Either his ghost ends up haunting me, or I have to disclose his death when I sell this place. Unemployment is surprisingly expensive.
Laura takes advantage of the situation to discuss the great unknown with her grandfather, as she's coming to terms with the idea of having Spencer around longer than expected. He's not much help, he says everything is confusing until you decide to accept things the way they are, and then the lights turn off. After so much enlightenment, she offers her help and he asks her to pick up his pills, but when she gets to the pharmacy they tell her she has to be over eighteen, so she calls Spencer but they won't give them to him since he's not listed for pick up. Laura yells at the pharmacist and then breaks up with Spencer for not dying.
Valerie decides to go look for their mother but she remembers her car is at Chill's so Leon, who was helping Alex with the whole situation, gives her a ride. Valerie tells him the night they met, Drew had said she was cold and she would die alone, and that she's been trying to take those words out of her head ever since but that she still misses ordinary life. They get to Chill's and see a sign that says parking overnight is not allowed, so realizing they towed her, car Leon takes her and even pays with his checkbook when Valerie realizes they don't accept credit cards.
While they wait, Leon asks her if she thinks it will be better with Drew the second time around, she says she doesn't know, he comforts her and she says he's a good friend and she doesn't know why he puts up with her and her brother. He says Alex amuses him, and maybe he was waiting to get it right with her. When they part ways he tells her "You don't owe anyone an apology. We do what we can to be happy" and she hugs him. I'm glad we got to see them together again, it's baffling that they haven't shared a solo scene since the pilot.
Alex gets a photo album from his father and doesn't know what to do with it, he calls Jennifer freaking out, he says maybe he's not ready to kill his own father yet so she says he should just talk to him. He takes her advice and goes downstairs, he reminds his father of a time where he told him a brutal story about the American Indians, he tells him he was five and didn't need that kind of thing in his head.
Charles: Alex, the world doesn't favor sentimentality, you know? The sooner you understood that...
Alex: The sooner I could learn to shut myself off from it?... I am lonely. I'm lonely and sad because of what you taught me, because of how you raised me.
Charles: I did the best I could. And you and your sister have each other. That's a real love. That's more than most people ever get. It's more than I ever got.
This scene is heartbreaking, mostly thanks to the acting by Tommy Dewey (Alex) and Fred Melamed (Charles). This man is thinking back on his life and realizing how empty all the indiscriminate loving was, how the woman he decided to share everything with throughout his life, is not even willing to overcome her selfishness to be with him in his last moments on earth.
Valerie comes home, since their mother is not willing to help and they can't really force her, and finds Laura post break-up. She tells her mother she's fucked up in ways that go beyond any typical teenager, she says she wanted Spencer to die so something could stay frozen and timeless "like one of those stupid movies", referring of course to The Fault in Our Stars. Valerie tells her some things get better with time, and she talks about the possibility of going back to Drew. Laura shocked reminds her she was miserable the last time, that she'd heard her crying in the bathroom at night. Valerie seems shocked with a memory she had chosen to forget but overcomes it and they go downstairs.
The three of them prepare Charles' deadly cocktail and make fun of the situation, imagining they are some other family that instead of that is making beaded jewelry. When they give it to him he drinks it in front of them dramatically but nothing happens, so they read the prospect and it says in larger patients it can take up to 48 hours. So they order Chinese food and while they wait Laura tells her grandfather stories, and Valerie tells Alex she's not going back to Drew, but she feels it's time to get her own place. When Laura tells then he's gone, brother and sister hold hands.
After that, we see a montage where Alex decides to take up ordinary therapy with Jennifer, Laura apologizes to Spencer with movies for a new marathon and, finally, mother and daughter looking at their new home.
The good news is Casual has already been renewed by Hulu for a third season that is expected to air on 2017. I hope we get to see more of Leon and Valerie, since she never really gave him a chance. I also hope we get to see more of Leia and I would love to see Aubrey back even though I don't see that happening, it feels like they just disposed of her very easily though.
So what did you think of the finale? What are your hopes for next season? I would love to read your thoughts.
Note: English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes.
