Very nicely done. I'm giving it Pantheon status. After a misguided first season the final three were just spot on beautiful. Part of its beauty is the way it stood out against literally every other show on television. It was one of only two character driven shows of it's time (along with Better Call Saul), and it was the only one that didn't lean on criminality as a milieu. It took the business of business seriously, one of only two fictional TV shows I know of ever to do that (along with Mad Men).
The thoughtfulness with which the characters were handled became plain in the arcs. All four main characters went through growth arcs, but in the end they were still themselves.
Joe -- always searching for the next big thing came to see the next big thing was only of importance in how it affected humanity. "The thing that gets us to the thing" is what he was all about and he came to realize both things are us.
Gordon -- the pure engineer. The non-logical nuances often escaped him but he would always come around. And if he was never quick at personality assessment, he came to accept that about himself and move cautiously in that arena. In one of the most perfect developments in all fiction, he got to spend his final day successfully fixing something.
Cameron -- never got over her need to rebel. Her hatred of depending on anyone else for anything was given a source in her family. Like Gordon she had to accept her limitations but in this case it was not a happy acceptance. She seems doomed to forever kill anything that would keep her connected. The horrible ironic twist for her is that her extreme independence means that in the end she will always be dependent on people like...
Donna -- the manager, the compromiser. The one who masters the rules. The one who perhaps sees others the most clearly. The one who reminds the others that their dreams only exist in the real world because of people like her which leads to the inevitable subtext of hostility that creates. And like everyone else, she never quit being who she is, she just realizes it and works with it to live better. Her key revelation is her regretful remembrance of Gordon: "He did so many thing wrong. And I told him about every one."
That is beautiful. That, my friends, is how you do fiction. I'm gonna miss this show and these characters.
We are left with Better Call Saul as the sole remaining quality drama on TV, although there are so many shows getting made these days, between Netflix and Amazon and YouTube etc., that I can't keep up. It's possible there is another gem out there that I don't know about. I like my silly comedies and action shows as much as the next guy, but I do fear for the continued existence of quality drama on TV. I guess we'll see.
BTW - the Pantheon consists of The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Halt and Catch Fire, and almost certainly Better Call Saul. I'm open to suggestions to anything else, new or old, but the bar is awfully high.
