Feeling in places much more like a season finale than a series finale, "Au Revoir" nonetheless packed quite the emotional punch and pulled out a fair number of stops. I loved the romance, action, and thrills in the hour, but could have done without the somewhat maudlin false twist close to the end. Let's review and discuss!
The Best Parts! I really loved the badassness of Catherine and Vincent's last fight against Braxton. The scene with VinCat in the car going off the bridge was utterly fantastic. It had gorgeous direction, an excellent mix of adrenaline, fear, and suspense, and it somehow perfectly epitomized the way Vincent and Cat hold onto each other no matter how rough life gets and how much trouble they get themselves into trying to do the right thing.
The episode also did a superb job of emphasizing the love between the Fab Five. Of particular note? The goodbye scene with Vincent and J.T., where Vincent gifts J.T. with a laptop before possibly leaving NYC forever to start a new life with Catherine, away from the authorities that are trying to hunt the pair down. The brotherly bond these two friends share has never been more beautifully portrayed, and who could help a tear at that bromantic-as-hell hug? Awww!
Tess finally came to a point where she was forced to choose between loyalty to Catherine or playing by the book. I'm glad she opted to stick with her besties and even called out Agent Dylan on her hypocritical and ignorant approach to Vincent's case. It also seemed more than natural for Tess and J.T. to end up back together. She understood and felt for J.T.'s sadness and frustration at not being able to help Vincent anymore, and her love of J.T.'s goodness is part of what makes her ultimately a likable character, at least as we leave her in the finale. It also sounds like J.T. is on his way to finding purpose in his career, thanks to a little help from Vincent, which was a really heart-warming aspect for the writers to add in.
The scene of Tess and J.T. taking Braxton down was brilliantly done, very intense and filled with their sadness and determination after Vincent and Catherine seemingly died in the car explosion (more on that to come). This was something of an unusually grim scene for the show, but suitably closed out the despicable story of Braxton's villainous deeds.
Heather putting the pieces together and realizing, towards the end, that VinCat were still alive, was a lovely scene full of emotion that her sweetly bubbly character just made extra special as the truth lit up her whole face.
As for the final scene, how adorable, fun, and exciting, that no matter how hard they try to start anew and keep their noses out of everyone else's problems, Catherine and Vincent will never be able to kick the habit of fighting crime. We know what this means: their new life can never be the entirely peaceful one they had envisioned, but maybe that never would have fit with their personalities. They have a drive to fight for what's right, and that is one of the main qualities that drew them to each other in the first place. I also really enjoyed that the ending, with that last shot of Cat and Vincent rushing into danger (much to the eye-rolling amusement and frustration of their friends) didn't feel like an ending, but rather an indication that the adventures will still continue for these characters, in that world, even if we don't get any more episodes to show us what they will be. (Sob!)
A few small quibbles: I wasn't crazy about J.T., Tess, and Heather being allowed to think Vincent and Catherine were really dead for quite as long as they did. I'm sure that there were reasons why they could not reveal their survival, maybe just the inevitability of danger to their friends or the irresistible urge for yet more tearful farewells that might deter their escape. Yet it was very hard to take, watching J.T. in particular dealing with the loss of his friends. He's such a dear character that seeing him in that amount of grief was tough, though of course, it was intended to be that way so that the episode would be an emotional rollercoaster -- which it was! I just wish there could have been a way for Vincent and Cat to escape without putting the other members of the Fab Five through that pain.
Kyle ending up with Heather was also not a favorite ending of mine. No matter how much he thought he was protecting her, it still seems very sketchy and unnecessary that he went behind her back with DHS like that to help them catch Catherine and Vincent. There's something too presumptuous and shady about Kyle that I never warmed to. However, Michael Roark was able to infuse Kyle's last scenes with such warmth and genuine love for Heather that it made this conclusion for her slightly more palatable.
As some of you know, I was so sure that Catherine would be pregnant at the end of the finale. I am genuinely shocked that she was sitting there drinking wine at the restaurant in Paris! There seemed to be so many hints that the ending would involve a cute little beasty baby: the pregnancy scare earlier in Season 4 (one of my favorite episodes), Catherine's sudden interest in tea, baking, and fuzzy sweaters...is it just me? She seemed to be nesting a little bit! I think it would have been an even more perfect way to cap off the series, but you can't have it all!
What did you think of the finale? Share your thoughts in the comments!
