About Last Night…SUPERSTORE, WILL & GRACE, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, and More

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

SUPERSTORE: I’m so extraordinarily torn on the episode. On one hand, it was never intended to be the finale. On the other, it doesn’t ultimately change the figurative sword hanging over the episode: America Ferrera is leaving the show. Even before Amy got the job, it was there, lingering over the every thing that happened in “California Part 1.” It permeated into the cracks as Amy decided it was a good idea to keep the interview from Jonah. It was there when Jonah and Amy fought when she got the position. It was there, especially, when Jonah seemed to finally realize he had no reason to stay in St. Louis if his long-time (live-in!) girlfriend was taking a job in California. But even Jonah suggesting he move with her was bittersweet, because at the end of the day, Jonah isn’t leaving the show. The couple has this romantic idea now, but something, somehow, is going to derail it.

Look, to be fair, we don’t know for sure Amy will take this job. It’s possible something could still change and Amy will stay in St. Louis and she and Jonah will remain a couple off-screen. But when I was thinking about how the show could plausibly write off Amy, this was the option I was most worried about. Amy deserves good things. It’s just hard for me to think Amy is going to uproot her family like this right now (especially since Emma, in theory, likely has a single year of high school left), and even if she would, again…what is keeping Jonah there if they’re together?

It’s not the show’s fault the season ended like this. And I’m glad they didn’t shove in a false ending just to wrap things up. But life without Amy was already going to be a natural cliffhanger for the show, because she has been so vital. (And I’m sure there would have been other loose ends, too.) Now, we’re left with bittersweet (fake) hope. It’s possible this delayed heartbreak by a couple of months. I honestly don’t know what’s worse.

There’s also an irrational part of me that is bummed Amy is taking a job as a potential diversity hire. She got the manager job through blackmail. (Justified blackmail, but blackmail.) I wish this was purely because people recognized she was the best option out there. [For more on SUPERSTORE, here’s what the EPs had to say.]

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE: I really thought Cheddar’s kidnapping was going to be the season high point, but my God, the finale was fantastic. Charles and Jake’s very, very long journey to try and get back to the precinct was bonkers. As was Rosa’s horror as Amy’s labor progression. But, of course, it’s hard to top Holt* and Terry’s perfectly insane dance to “Push It.” (Also, I cannot believe Amy let Jake name their son Mac in a tribute to DIE HARD.) This may have been my favorite season of the show?

*Honestly, how is Andre Braugher this consistently incredible. He’s somehow never been better on the show and I hope the Emmys pay attention.

WILL & GRACE: I’m honestly baffled by nearly every single decision here. Look, I’ll give the show this: It’s better than the last finale, which enraged me so much I’ve actually not watched it since/have mostly avoided the original run’s repeats.

But this? What the heck was this? It honestly felt like the writers thought they had another episode to go; outside of saying goodbye to the apartment, it felt like a penultimate episode. Even Jack getting his bow and Karen reuniting with Stan could have fit in a non-finale context if the final episode was to really pay tribute to Will and Grace, and also the foursome’s friendship.

It’s just a real disappointment. I definitely didn’t need to flash forward to the future like the original finale did, but it’s insane the show made such a huge deal of Will and Grace both being on the cusp of being parents (and, despite all rational laws of time, insisting their kids were due around the same time) and neither child was born during the series’ last run. If that was going to be the case, why not progress the time naturally versus jumping forward to get that close?

I just, truly, don’t get it.

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: SVU wasn’t quite GREY’S ANATOMY-levels of “how the heck was this NOT originally a finale?”, but it’s probably the closest any other show has gotten to it.

The show ended its run with arguably its strongest run of episodes of the season, but the last few episodes weren’t quite this level of finale-worthy. This? If I hadn’t known better, I would have bought this was it. The show managed to bring back a number of past cases and literally every main character had their hands full as they dealt with delicate issues. Some of the issues—poor Fin—will likely linger, so it’ll be interesting to see how things eventually work next season.

What I keep thinking about is the final Carisi and Rollins scene. Even excluding their extremely complicated dynamic, it felt like it might be a real turning point for Carisi. All season we’ve seen him straddle two worlds, his new job as an ADA, while still having deep, deep ties to his former SVU colleagues. It makes sense, in a lot of ways. It’s a huge shift, he knows how to get justice as a cop, he had a second family at work. Now he’s starting over again, while still holding on to what he had before.

But as much as it’s lovely seeing him out working cases with his former colleagues, it’s also probably not realistic for that to be sustainable long-term. He needs to be able to be the badass ADA we’ve gotten glimpses of, even if that is a bit of a bummer for how it might shake up the dynamic again next season. (Also, I laughed out loud at him chugging Pepto. It was such a great, minor moment.)

[For more on the SVU finale, here’s what Jamie Gray Hyder had to say.]

Which shows did you watch last night?

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